Anyone who has ever lived in Kalgoorlie-Boulder – or even visited – can tell you that it’s not unusual to feel WA’s best-known gold mining town shaking. 

The iconic Super Pit blasts on a regular basis, with some of those being bigger and more spectacular than others. 

But pre-dawn on Tuesday morning, Kalgoorlie-Boulder residents had another reason to feel the earth move…an earthquake that triggered more than 160 reports to authorities. 

According to Geoscience Australia, the quake measured at 2.9 magnitude and occurred at a depth of 7km. 

The majority of “felt reports” were in the weak to light range, although there were two reports in the “strong category.” 

Earthquakes in Kalgoorlie-Boulder certainly aren’t uncommon, with today’s being the third residents have felt in the past three months. 

But an earthquake recorded on August 5 was reported by only 44 people (although it had the same 2.9 magnitude), while a 1.6 magnitude quake on July 26 resulted in only 17 reports. 

The most famous earthquake in recent Kalgoorlie-Boulder history came in 2010, when a 5.2 magnitude shake caused significant damage to historical buildings, resulted in two people being hospitalised with minor injuries and saw mining halted temporarily at several gold mines, including the Super Pit.

That quake was the biggest in the Goldfields in more than 100 years, with much of the damage occurring on Boulder’s historic Burt Street.

The Duke of York Hotel – badly damaged by the quake – had to be demolished, while the Golden Eagle Hotel was destroyed by fire in 2012, shortly after it had also been earmarked for demolition.