'Wow!' Hundreds of Darwin residents shaken awake by big earthquake

A big 6.2 magnitude earthquake has rocked the Northern Territory.

Residents in the city of Darwin reported the ground began to shake and apartments were swaying when the tremors started on Thursday about 1:30am.

Geoscience Australia said about 500 locals in the capital and Palmerstone felt the shaking. It was also felt as far as Katherine which is 300 kilometres south of Darwin.

There have been no reports of significant damage or injuries.

The earthquake struck in the Banda Sea, between Timor-Leste and Indonesia.

The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no threat of a tsunami.

One local said the tremors felt just as big as what she had experienced at home in New Zealand.

"Wow! That earthquake was as big as some we had in NZ. Didn't expect to be shaken awake in Darwin," she said on Twitter.

"Rise and shine AGAIN Darwin. Woken by what can only assumed to be tremors from an earthquake. That or my building needs to be checked out," another joked.

"Big roar in the distance after it too," a third added.

Another described their apartment was shaking from the tremors.

It is not the first time Darwin has been rocked by an earthquake this year.

The same magnitude quake struck about ten kilometres deep between Australia and Western New Guinea on February 18.

A larger 7.6 tremor was felt by Northern Territorians when it struck near Indonesia's Tanimbar Islands, at a depth of about 90 kilometres, on January 10.

Darwin often feels earthquakes as Australia's neighbour of Indonesia sits on the Ring of Fire, which is the most seismically and volcano active zone in the world.