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Detectives have alleged nine-year-old Charlise Mutten died from a gunshot wound, in what the Homicide Squad boss called an "unimaginable and egregious murder".

The schoolgirl was found dead in a plastic barrel on the banks of the Colo River in NSW last week, about an hour from where she was last seen in the Blue Mountains.

Her mother's partner Justin Stein, 31, has been charged with her murder.

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"The cause of death of Charlise was that she suffered a fatal gunshot wound, and that's how she died," Homicide Squad Commander Danny Doherty said today.

"We're disclosing this for investigative reasons but also just to clear up any ambiguity… this is the (alleged) murder of a nine-year-old girl."

The little girl's family has only recently been told how she died.

"It's important that they know, and it's important that the public know that this is an unimaginable and egregious (alleged) murder of a child," he said.

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Police are still searching the Mount Wilson property where Charlise was last seen and the surrounding areas for a gun.

Detective Superintendent Doherty said the barrel Charlise was found in is believed to be from the property and police believe there is a "high probability" she died there.

Charlise's mother Kallista Mutten has been reinterviewed and is being treated as a witness.

Detective Superintendent Doherty said Ms Mutten was not believed to have been at the property at the time police allege Charlise was murdered.

It comes as new CCTV was released, showing a ute towing a boat at multiple locations across Sydney.

The CCTV footage shows the maroon coloured ute towing a covered boat at three locations on the evening of January 13.

Just before 6pm, the ute pulls into a BP gas station at Marsden Park, in Sydney's north-west.

Then, at 7.17pm, the ute and boat are spotted in traffic in Drummoyne, in Sydney's inner west.

Minutes later, close to the Five Dock Bay Boat Ramp near Drummoyne, the ute is captured on a home's private security system.

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Police believe the little girl was killed on January 11 or 12.

Charlise was visiting her mother for the school holidays from Queensland, where she lives, at the time of her death.

Mr Stein is due to reappear in court in March.

Hundreds of Western Australians reported feeling the ground move early this morning, after a 4.7 magnitude earthquake which was part of a wider "swarm" of minor quakes hit east of Perth.

One woman who spoke with radio station 6PR claimed her bed had lifted several centimetres off the floor.

The 5.24am earthquake was recorded west of Wagin, about 230 kilometres south-east of Perth, at a depth of eight kilometres. It was the largest rumble in a series of dozens of quakes over the past seven days.

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https://omny.fm/shows/6pr-breakfast/swarm-of-activity-preceded-wagin-earthquake/embed?style=cover

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Geoscience Australia (GA) warned Western Australians to expect more aftershocks throughout the morning.

GA senior seismologist Tania Pejic told 6PR there had been a "swarm" of earthquakes recorded over the past week.

"There's no good explanation as to why swarms occur," she said.

"What they are is a big number of earthquakes occurring over a small period of time without a discernible main shock."

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Ms Pejic said GA had recorded in excess of 30 earthquakes in the area over the last seven days.

It was not possible to know if this morning's earthquake was going to be the peak of the swarm, she said.

In the first hour after the earthquake, more than 500 reports were submitted by the public, GA said.

By 6.38am, an aftershock with a preliminary magnitude of 3.6 had been recorded by GA's National Earthquake Alerts Centre.

There are so far no confirmed reports of damage.