An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 on the Richter scale hit near the east coast of Australia at 9.49 am local time on Saturday (2349 GMT Friday), said Geoscience Australia, reported Xinhua.

The epicentre, with a depth of 10.0 kilometres, was about 80 km west of Noosa and 250 km north of Brisbane in the Australian state of Queensland.

People have reported feeling tremors as far as Rockhampton in north Queensland and as far as Glen Innes in north New South Wales.