© USGS/EPAThe United States Geological Survey’s ‘shake map’ showed the 5.8 magnitude quake’s location off Bowen in north Queensland.
The 5.8 magnitude quake hit off Bowen in state's north triggering evacuations in Cairns and Townsville but no serious injuries or damage reported
One of the more powerful earthquakes to strike Australia in recent years sent tremors along more than 1,000 km of the Queensland coastline on Thursday.
The 5.8 magnitude quake struck off the coast of Bowen in north Queensland around 2.30pm, triggering evacuations of buildings in Cairns and Townsville but with no reports of serious injuries or damage.
An interview recorded with Greg Williamson, the mayor of Mackay, by the Daily Mercury newspaper captured the sound of a shaking floor when the quake struck, prompting Williamson to ask: "Is that an actual earthquake?"
Comment: Elsewhere within the past year some record-breaking and rare storm events include:
July 2016: Hurricane drought in Gulf of Mexico hits a new record of three years - the longest streak in the past 130 years, since formal record-keeping began in 1886.
April 2016: Cyclone Fantala became the Indian Ocean's most powerful storm on record
February 2016: Cyclone Winston caused devastation in Fiji as the most-potent cyclone on record in the Southwest Pacific
January 2016: Hurricane Pali became the earliest-forming hurricane in either the Central or Northeastern Pacific, forming unusually close to the equator
January 2016: Hurricane Alex, a rare January storm in the Atlantic and the first storm of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season
October 2015: Hurricane Patricia became the strongest-known storm in the Northeast Pacific