Thousands of people have been shaken by one of the strongest earthquakes to hit Australia — which was felt from central Queensland to Sydney — amid warnings of aftershocks.

The strong tremor struck near the Queensland town of Kilkivan, about 170 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, on Saturday morning.

Geoscience Australia registered the 5.6 magnitude quake at a depth of 10 kilometres near the Wrattens National Park about 9.50am.

The strongest earthquake to strike the state’s mainland in five decades is the third and strongest detected in Australia in recent days.

The impact was minimal due to the low population of the region.

An earthquake of the same magnitude, which killed 13 people in Newcastle in 1989, was Australia’s deadliest quake.

“I don’t think anyone expected to wake up to that today in Queensland,” Premier David Crisafulli said.

Geoscience Australia seismologist Michelle Salmon said the only stronger recent earthquake was an offshore temblor in 2016 near Bowen in the state’s north.

“This is the largest earthquake we’ve had onshore in Queensland for 50 years,” she said on Saturday.

“We can certainly expect more aftershocks from this event.”

The agency had received almost 15,000 “felt reports” by 1.30pm.

The tremor was felt from Rockhampton on the central Queensland coast as far south as Sydney.

Mark Barton and others at Peregian Beach on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast felt the quake about 85 kilometres away.

“We thought initially there might be some construction work gone wrong,” he said.

“Then the vibrations got quite strong and stronger.

“The windows were rattling and the whole house was shaking, not violently but quite noticeably.”

The vibrations went on for about a minute, bringing neighbours out into the street.

“It caused people to be a bit scared,” Barton said.

Photo: Geosciences Australia

The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre advised there was no tsunami threat.

More than 13,000 customers near the epicentre lost power following the quake, network operator Ergon Energy said.

The disturbance triggered protection equipment at substations in nearby Murgon and further away at Burrum Heads, north of Hervey Bay.

Power outages from the quake had been rectified by 1.30pm.

Geoscience Australia stations as far as 1000 kilometres away in Canberra registered the earthquake.

Earthquakes of more than magnitude five occur every one to two years, with an average of 100 quakes at magnitude three or lower recorded each year in Australia, according to the agency.

There was a 3.2 magnitude earthquake on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula on Wednesday, following a 3.6 magnitude earthquake west of Kingscote on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island on Tuesday.

The nation’s largest recorded earthquake hit Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory in 1988, according to Geoscience Australia.

The 6.6 magnitude earthquake damaged a major gas pipeline.

A 6.5 magnitude earthquake was felt over much of southern Western Australia in 1968 after striking Meckering, east of Perth.

-with AAP