A magnitude 4.6 earthquake has rocked Western Australia's Goldfields region, with reports of people being shaken up to 100km from the epicentre.
The quake occurred at 8am on Wednesday and was centred 30km west of the historic mining town of Kalgoorlie.
Geoscience Australia seismologist Eddie Leask said it was the equal second largest earthquake recorded in the area, behind a magnitude five that struck close to Kalgoorlie in April 2010 and tying with another 4.6 centred further away to the town's east in April 1977.
Mr Leask said the federal government agency had received reports of people feeling it 100km away.
More than 50 reports of people being shaken the quake had lobbed into its website by 9am.
Others had observed ripples in water and cracks in plaster, he said.
And a string of phase arrivals, or seismic waves associated with the earthquake, were recorded in areas including Kambalda, some 100km away, Mundaring in Perth's Hills region, some 500km from the epicentre, and Forrest, 657km away.
"A magnitude four does travel a long way," Mr Leask told AAP.
"The seismometers are very sensitive: they're picking up thousands of a centimetre movements. That's why we're able to locate earthquakes and get good signals over large distances."
He said there was potential for minor damage in Kalgoorlie.
Ken Smith from the Grand Hotel in Boulder said he was in bed when it hit, and it "shook the sh** out of me".
"It is in Kalgoorlie, but we felt the shocks in Boulder," he told Fairfax radio.
"It was only a few seconds but that is all it takes.
"You could just feel the rumble keep running through."
Mr Smith said there appeared to be no damage at the hotel, "but there would have to be some in Kalgoorlie".
"I thought `hello we are in for another one'."
