An Australian outback town has been hit by a 5.3-magnitude earthquake that has damaged several buildings.

Tenant Creek, a Northern Territory town of just 3,000 inhabitants, was struck by the earthquake on Thursday morning.

The quake’s epicentre was 40 kilometers south-west of the town, at a depth of 10 kilometres, Geoscience Australia said.

Local media said residents reported feeling the tremours.

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“I have reports of minor damage like hairline cracks, which would not be uncommon from this size earthquake.

“We have nothing major reported … as of yet,” Geoscience Australia Senior Seismologist, Hugh Glanville, told Australian newswire AAP.

A 6.6-magnitude earthquake was the largest tremour ever recorded in Australia in the Tenant Creek region in 1988. (dpa/NAN)