Seismologists say a 4.4-magnitude earthquake in Cadoux on Sunday could have been an aftershock from a larger earthquake from 43 years ago.
The earthquake rocked the remote Wheatbelt town around midday on Sunday, with tremors felt 180 kilometres away in the Perth metropolitan area.
There were no reports of damage or people being injured.
The earthquake comes 43 years after the town was rocked by one of WA's strongest earthquakes on record — a magnitude-6.1 quake in 1979.
Geoscience Australia confirmed it was quite common for aftershocks to be experienced decades later, and this most recent tremor could have been an aftershock from the 6.1-magnitude event more than 40 years ago.
"It's possible … it wouldn't be surprising at all," Tanja Pejic, a senior duty seismologist from Geoscience Australia, said.
Dr Pejic confirmed Sunday’s quake was 1,000 times less "energetic" and a "massive difference" from the June 1979 earthquake.
"We have senior analysts revising any given earthquake on the next business day, so it's currently at a 4.4," she said.
For local man Skip Scheepers, this was his first earthquake in Cadoux.
"It was just a huge big bang and rumbled off into the distance … it lasted about five or six seconds and the initial reaction was just to get out of the house," he said.
Mr Scheepers is one of the 200 residents who felt the ground rumble on Sunday, but he said it was not unusual for the town.
"We'd feel these little tremors now and again, but this one was quite significant," he said.
Geoscience Australia said it was quite common for aftershocks to be experienced decades later.
"Australia is a very stable cratonic area and it is very common that after a large earthquake, it just takes a long time for the whole area to stabilise again," Dr Pejic said.
"We should be looking at timelines well beyond our life span, we're talking thousands of years, in order to be talking about any trends of any kind."
She said there could potentially be more aftershocks following Sunday's earthquake.
"It is unlikely that we will have a large event happening, but it's not impossible," Dr Pejic said.
Memories of one of WA's largest earthquakes
Michael Kalajzic was in Cadoux during the 1979 earthquake.
"I was outside … the ground started shaking and everything started moving … water was splashing outside of the gutters," he said.
"The back windows started to shatter … and the big cement verandah was moving like a wave, like liquid cement — it was quite phenomenal."
Mr Kalajzic said since 1979 the town had rebuilt itself and he had stayed in the area.
"Born and bred here in Cadoux, farmed here all my life," he said.
"The community rallied behind one another, and you know that if anything might happen the community will be there to support you."
