Queensland rocked by earthquake

Workers surprised by the magnitude-5.3 quake. Photo / Supplied

Queensland's southeast has been rocked by an earthquake off the Fraser Coast.

Social media went into overdrive just before 10am on Thursday (12pm NZ time), with people saying they felt tremors that shook their houses in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Wide Bay and Gold Coast hinterland.

Geoscience Australia confirmed a magnitude-5.3 quake occurred at 9.41am in the Coral Sea, off Hervey Bay, at a depth of 35km.

The Bureau of Meteorology says there is no tsunami threat to the Australian east coast.

Geoscience Australia says the quake could have been felt by people up to 228km away, and could have caused damage up to 18km away.

There are some reports buildings in Bundaberg have been evacuated.

Radio talkback callers reported experiencing tremors from Bundaberg down to the Gold Coast.

Laine from Hervey Bay told ABC Radio he was about to go fishing at Woody Point when his boat and the dock began rocking uncontrollably.

"All of a sudden the whole place was shaking," he said. "The ground was shaking, it was quite unbelievable. It went on for about 10 to 15 seconds."

Other southeast Queenslanders reported they felt tremors from five to 15 seconds.

Nick, from Sunrise Beach near Noosa, also told ABC Radio that he heard a low rumbling sound from his kitchen.

"All the plates and things on the racks were rattling," he said. "I looked out the kitchen window and I could see the swimming pool water was rippling."

Social media users took to Twitter to report the rumble, with some saying it was felt in Brisbane's northern suburbs.

"We felt the earth quake here in Stafford!," Brooke Mason tweeted.

- AAP