A 6.2 magnitude earthquake has been felt by people in the Northern Territory this afternoon.

Geoscience Australia confirmed the earthquake, originating off the coast of Timor Leste, struck at around 12.06 this afternoon. 550 people in the Territory reported they noticed the quake.

The Bureau of Meteorology said there is currently no threat of a tsunami as a result of the quake, which was felt in Darwin and surrounding regions.

READ MORE: Texas gunman was inside the school for more than an hour

"The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre has detected an earthquake that has been reported as being felt near Darwin, NT," the BoM said.

"There is no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories."

Residents in Darwin reported feeling their "house rocking" temporarily and tremors in their offices and homes.

"Wow, I just felt the earth move here in Darwin," one resident said.

"An earthquake just shook our office building here in Casuarina."

Senior Seismologist Trevor Allen from Geoscience Australia said people from Darwin to Katherine and Kununurra in Western Australia reported feeling the earthquake.

READ MORE: Locals raise concerns about Andrew O'Keefe rehab facility

"I would generally expect people might have felt the shaking for about 30 seconds in the Darwin region," Allen said.

"We haven't received any reports of damage the reports have generally shown the shaking felt to be minor.

"As yet we haven't detected any aftershocks."

He said people in high-rise buildings typically feel the shaking effects more due to the natural frequency and design of the buildings.

"A magnitude 6.2 is quite a strong earthquake and initial reports from Timor Leste suggest it was quite strongly felt on the island.

"In terms of what to do if you do feel an earthquake, the best advice we have is to drop under a sturdy object or table, cover yourself, particularly your head and wait for the shaking to stop."

READ MORE: Ray Liotta, Goodfellas and Field of Dreams star, dies aged 67

A homicide investigation is underway following the death of a baby in Otara.Detective Inspector Warrick Adkin of Counties Manukau CIB said a baby with critical injuries was taken to Watford Medical Centre in Otara on Monday.”CPR…

The founders of Arise Church, which has been at the centre of abuse allegations, have resigned. The church announced tonight founders and lead pastors John and Gillian Cameron would be resigning, alongside John’s brother Brent….

In December 2020 Rena Joyce stabbed her partner to death in his Christchurch home and dumped his body in a compost heap.The fatal attack was a tragic climax to a relationship marred by alcoholism and domestic violence. Joyce was…

Test your brains with the Herald’s afternoon quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz for the morning quiz tomorrow. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.

Police have alerted the Privacy Commissioner after a burglar broke into the former Auckland police station and stole documents and expired pepper spray.The police were made aware of the break-in while carrying out a search warrant…

ANALYSIS: Was last week’s major climate change announcement a case of vested interests getting their way? The sweet deal that agriculture and dairying got from the Green Party Minister for Climate Change certainly struck many…

Hawke’s Bay’s newest street is due to be handed over to Kāinga Ora in about a month’s time.The 28 homes are at the northern end of Tomoana Rd in Hastings.This construction project, as well as providing much-needed social…

The Tonga underwater volcano that produced a massive eruption earlier this year remains intact, New Zealand scientists said.

The eruption in January was the biggest explosion ever recorded by modern sensors.

It was so powerful, the force lifted cloud over the United Kingdom 16,500km away and generated small tsunamis in the Mediterranean Sea.

READ MORE: Texas gunman was inside the school for more than an hour

But structurally, the underwater volcano at Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai hasn't changed that much, research published this week showed.

Experts from New Zealand's National Institute for Water and Atmospheric (NIWA) said the new findings were "surprising" and "unexpected".

NIWA scientists aboard a research ship have mapped the post-eruption shape of Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai (HTHH) and of the surrounding seabed.

Expedition leader, NIWA marine geologist Kevin Mackay, said he was astonished by what he'd seen in the sonar results.

"With an explosion that violent – the biggest ever recorded – you would expect that the whole volcano would have been obliterated, but it wasn't," he said.

READ MORE: Locals raise concerns about Andrew O'Keefe rehab facility

Mackay said while the volcano appeared intact, the seafloor showed some dramatic effects from the eruption.

"There is fine sandy mud and deep ash ripples as far as 50 kilometres away from the volcano, with gouged valleys and huge piles of sediment."

As well as the sonar survey, the researchers also studied the ocean ecosystem around the volcano.

While the edges of the volcano are now ridden of biological life, the scientists found only 15km away that fish and mussels were thriving.

"These surviving animal communities indicate what kind of life may repopulate HTHH," said marine biologist Malcolm Clark.

READ MORE: Ray Liotta, Goodfellas and Field of Dreams star, dies aged 67

The January 15 eruption of the undersea Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano about 65km north of Tonga's capital Nukuʻalofa killed at least three people.

The volcanic eruption sent rarely observed pressure waves around the world for six days and a tsunami wave.

Gloriavale’s leaders have issued an unprecedented public apology today – saying they “denounce any and all offending that has occurred” at their secretive Christian community.”These actions are abhorrent to us,” they said in a statement…