Queensland earthquake was one of the largest ever

Australia: A magnitude 5.3 earthquake that struck off the coast of Fraser Island will go down as one of the largest in Queensland history.

Tremors were felt from Bundaberg, where CBD buildings were evacuated, to Tweed Heads in northern New South Wales.

Sandy Macarone's Strathpine house was swaying as items on the table bounced, while Chermside's Amy MacDonald felt "waves of shaking" that cracked her garage floor.

There was also minor damage to the inside walls of an apartment building in Nambour on the Sunshine Coast hinterland, according to Nine News.

The earthquake caused significant cracks to the garage floor in Amy MacDonald's Chermside home. Photo: Amy MacDonald

But no reports of major damage were received by police, Geoscience Australia or the Fraser Coast Council, closest to the quake's epicentre 30 kilometres below the surface.

In Rainbow Beach, the closest town to the source of the tremors, Plantation Resort at Rainbow manager Camille Nash said the ground was "definitely shaking".

"I was sitting down in my office and I could feel it in my office," she said.

"It probably would have gone for 30 seconds or more."

Fairfax journalist Ben Grubb's father Mick described the sensation as "like you were standing on jelly".

Once the shudders subsided, it didn't take long for people to start looking for the funny side of the shakes.

"I was sitting on the loo and the next minute I could hear the rumble ... my husband sings out, 'God love, lucky you didn't let that one go," a caller told 4BC Radio.