Darwin: 5.8 magnitude earthquake in Banda Sea, Indonesia, felt in Northern Territory

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An earthquake was felt in the Northern Territory late on Tuesday evening.

A 5.8 magnitude quake hit the Banda Sea in Indonesia north west of Darwin.

The Bureau of Meteorology has said there was no tsunami threat to the Australian coastline.

As well as being felt in Darwin and the north of the Territory, the quake was also felt in Dili in East Timor.

Residents of the city began posting about a possible earthquake just after 11pm local time

“Just felt a little earthquake in Darwin!” posted Olympic gold medallist and former senator Nova Peris.

Geoscience Australia placed the epicentre of the quake around 1000km from Darwin, in the sea northwest of the Maluku Islands between Sulawesi and New Guinea.

It was detected at a depth of 156 km and occurred at 12:59 Greenwich Meantime (10:59 AEST).

No injuries have been reported.

The Australian tectonic plate meets the Sunda plate which coves much of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, north of Darwin. The Sunda Trench, where the two plates meet, is a frequent area of ​​seismic activity.

Darwin was rocked by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake in May which caused buildings across the capital city to shake. In that case, termors lasted for about 30 seconds.

That quake originated in the Timor Sea at a depth of 65km.

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