- Experts have predicted more aftershocks will be felt from the earthquake
- 5.5 magnitude quake struck the Goldfields town of Norseman on Friday
- Tremors were felt more than 700km away in the centre of Perth
- Geoscience Australia said no damage was reported and no tsunami threat
- Norseman residents said they heard loud noises and felt the floor move
By Ashleigh Davis For Daily Mail Australia and Australian Associated Press
Published: 8 July 2016
Experts have predicted more aftershocks will be felt from a 5.5 magnitude earthquake that hit a remote town in Western Australia on Friday.
The earthquake struck near Norseman in WA's Goldfields region, and been felt as far away as Esperance, on the state's south east coast.
The quake, recorded at 5.40pm (WST) on Friday, struck 16km underground near Norseman in the state's Goldfields region, according to Geoscience Australia.
A 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck 16km underground near the Western Australian town of Norseman. Geoscience Australia said no damage was reported and there was no threat of a tsunami
The town is located about 720km east of Perth in Western Australia's Goldfields region (pictured)
While Geoscience said no damage was reported and there was no threat of a tsunami, the ABC reported that more than 20 aftershocks have been felt.
Senior seismologist Jonathan Bathgate told the ABC there were several aftershocks in the hours after the quake.
'A couple of magnitude threes and there are in excess of 20 earthquakes there that are much smaller than that we can't accurately locate, just because they're so small but they are occurring in that area,' he said.
'We would expect some aftershock activity following an event of this size.'
A seismogram of the earthquake. The seismometer was recorded from Forrest on the Nullabor about 500km east of the epicentre
Residents in Norseman (pictured) reported hearing loud noises and felt the floor move
While there are no reports of damage, people in high rise buildings in as far away as Perth are also said to have experienced some of the aftershocks.
Norseman service station attendant Jefta Verdam said he heard a loud noise and felt the floor move.
'It felt like there was a train passing by, then we realised it was an earthquake,' he told AAP.
'It was pretty heavy. I'm from The Netherlands and we don't have these kinds of things.'
Mr Verdam's colleague Renee Steffan said the tremors lasted several minutes and caused the store lights to swing around.
She said there had been a number of earthquakes in recent weeks but this was the worst.
'It was pretty intense, the ground just felt like it was going to open up,' she said.
Aftershocks from the earthquake were felt as far as 700km away in Perth (pictured)
Tremors from the earthquake were also felt 200km away in the southeast coastal town of Esperance (pictured)
Four quakes hit near Norseman in May, including a magnitude 5.2 tremor.
Esperance resident Vicky Davidson told the ABC the earthquake was loud and strong in the coastal town.
'At 5.40pm the windows and the sliding doors started moving - and the floor - and Roy could hear the tiles on the roof and I raced outside and I could hear a very loud growling noise,' she said.
'Then I rang a friend where I work and she said she was sitting in the office and her office desk started moving, so she raced out of the office to check residents at the local nursing home, hostel and they were all stunned, because the windows had all shuddered.'
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