'Huge' earthquake shakes residents awake in Western Australia

Thousands of Aussie have been rocked by a powerful 5.6 magnitude earthquake in Western Australia’s south.

The quake hit just after 5.30am on Sunday morning near Gnowangerup, and has so far been reported by more than 2000 people – some even in Perth 300km away and Kalgoorlie 500km away.

Residents said they were shaken awake by the tremors – with some worried they would fall out of bed.

“I had to hold onto my bed… it was HUGE here,” one woman wrote on Facebook.

“We’re staying in a hotel on the 16th floor and woke up with the bed shaking and the whole room swaying,” another said.

Others said the swaying made them feel instant motion sickness.

The depth of the quake was about 5km, according to Geoscience Australia.

The tremors are some of the largest Western Australia has seen in recent years.

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In January last year, a magnitude 4.8 earthquake was recorded near the Wheatbelt town of Wagin. The tremors also struck around 5.30am. In the days that followed, dozens of smaller quakes were recorded in the area.

The largest earthquake to hit the state had a magnitude of 6.5, and struck near Meckering in 1968.

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