An earthquake struck the Muiron Islands, north east of Exmouth, last week but most residents would have slept through it.

At the top of the North West Cape, Lighthouse Caravan Park on-site manager Natasha Tate was woken by the sound of rumbling at 3am last Tuesday night.

Ms Tate said she felt the quake for about three to five seconds, but by the time she had woken enough to sit up it had passed and she thought she must have dreamt it.

“I could feel the bed shaking against the wall and hear the metal of the door latch rattling,” she said.

“The roof was still creaking after the earthquake had passed.”

It was only the next morning she realised there had been an earthquake.

In the Exmouth townsite, resident Bec Freestone was awake when the earthquake struck.

She heard a door in the passageway of her home rattling and shaking and at first thought it was her daughter trying to open the door.

Ms Freestone said it seemed strange because there was obvious movement but no wind.

“There was low rumbling and with the vibration of the door it was eerie,” she said.

University of Western Australia seismologist Victor Dent said the region was one of the most seismically active areas in Australia.

“The earthquake was about 200km south-east of a magnitude 5.3 event in April of 2010, and is the largest event in, or near Australia since that event,” he said.

If an earthquake of a similar magnitude had hit just 30km offshore there would be noticeable damage in Exmouth, he said.

Mr Dent is asking for anybody in the region who noticed the event to fill in an online form which can be found at www.seismicity.see.uwa.edu.au.

He said seismic activity was not fully understood and any information people could provide would help researchers understand earthquakes better.