North Queensland rocked by 5.4 earthquake, 124km southeast of Townsville
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NORTH Queensland has been rocked by a 5.4 magnitude earthquake, with reports from across the region of buildings "shuddering''.
New Zealand city Christchurch was hit with an aftershock of the same magnitude just 18 minutes later.
The Queensland quake struck at 3.31pm local time, according to a preliminary report by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The USGS said it hit about 124km southeast of Townsville and 991km northwest of Brisbane.
The quake's epicenter was at a depth of 10km near Bowen and Ayr.
The quake is one of the largest to occur in Queensland in many years, The Sunday Mail reported.
The USGS measured it as a 5.2 magnitude quake, but Geoscience Australia recorded it at 5.4.
There was no tsunami warning issued and there were no reports of damage.
The Christchurch quake hit at 5:49pm local time and follows the magnitude 6.3 earthquake that hit on February 22, causing widespread damage and a death toll eventually expected to top 180.
The quake's epicenter was 16km east-southeast of the city at a depth of 9.2km, according to the USGS.
Power was knocked out in some parts of the city, which has been experiencing constant aftershocks since a 7.1 quake in September, 2010.
