Although the magnitude 7.2 quake occurred well off the northern Australia coast in the Banda Sea, it still made its presence felt more than 1000 kilometres away.

There were varying reports from Katherine about the tremor at 12.30pm causing wobbly legs, signs to swing and cars to shake.

While some offices in Darwin were evacuated it was largely as a precaution with few reports of any damage other than slight cracking and no injuries.

It was still believed to be the biggest quake recorded in the Top End for a decade.

The Australian continent does not lie on any tectonic plates which largely cause these earthquakes like this from Indonesia.

It is worth remembering though Australia's biggest recorded quake was not too far away (in planetary terms) from Katherine.

Tennant Creek recorded a 6.6 magnitude quake in 1988.

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