Geoscience experts say tremors in regional Western Australia have not been caused by the violent earthquake that killed more than 160 people in Indonesia.
A magnitude-4.3 earthquake close to Derby shook the Kimberley town on Monday evening, with 35 people telling Geoscience Australia they felt the tremor.
Derby residents took to social media with reports of seeing their houses shake.
Mukinbudin recorded a 3.5-magnitude quake on Tuesday morning. It was the largest in a cluster of at least 14 earthquakes to hit WA's Wheatbelt in the past week.
Geoscience experts say more than 1,000 earthquakes have been recorded within 100 kilometres of the recent activity in the last 10 years.
But Mukinbudin farmer Linda Palm said the strength and frequency of the recent tremors were unusual.
"I was just in the kitchen doing lunches and the house just started shaking … and it moved stuff around on tables and benches," she said.
"It was surprising because we don't usually feel them at our house. There has to be a big one somewhere else for us to feel them.
"We've felt them over the years … but to have so many, so close together is a bit unusual for us."
What's the 'thunder' after a quake?
Mrs Palm reported hearing a "noise like thunder" after the earthquake, which Geoscience Australia seismologist Trevor Allen said was common with smaller tremors.
Dr Allen says the seismic waves from the quake below ground become sound waves above ground.
"The ground shaking, or the energy that's released when the rocks break underground, that's actually transferred into sound waves when it reaches the surface," he said.
"People can perceive that as a large gunshot or a lightning strike or thunder."
The tremors come as the death toll of a magnitude-5.6 earthquake in Indonesia's West Java province on Monday surpassed 160 people.
Some 25 aftershocks were recorded in the two hours after the quake. Footage from the scene shows buildings being reduced almost entirely to rubble.
Dr Allen said the quakes in regional WA were unrelated.
"WA is probably the most seismically active state in Australia, and we do see from time to time earthquakes of magnitude four and above occurring within the state," he said.
"In late 2021, there was a large earthquake in the Pilbara region, near Marble Bar, that was a magnitude-5.3 earthquake.
"The magnitude of that event was the same size as the earthquake that struck Newcastle in 1989, which is still one of Australia's most costly natural disasters."
Anyone who feels an earthquake is encouraged to report their experience to Geoscience Australia.
