Residents in Far North Queensland have described how the ground shook after what is believed to be a meteor streaked across the sky in broad daylight.

It happened about 1:40pm yesterday and was seen and heard across an area spanning hundreds of kilometres away from Cairns.

Witnesses described seeing a "very bright flash of light," a "shooting star" and hearing an "explosion" and "sonic boom".

Astronomer David Reneke said it was most likely a "daytime fireball" — a type of meteor.

A "sky cam" in Mareeba captured the fireball at 1:30pm yesterday. ( Supplied: Marcello Avolio )

"Seeing one in the daytime is a special event, that's for sure," Mr Reneke said.

"They are slow-moving meteors that burn and melt and are generally associated with a lot of noise because they explode overhead.

"To actually witness one of these, you have to be in the right place at the right time — it's a very special event for anyone who has ever seen one because you'll never, ever forget it."

Cairns northern beaches resident Chris Slapp said she thought there "was an earthquake".

"The table was vibrating and I could feel it … through the ground," Ms Slapp said.

A meteor in the sky over the North Sea during the day, taken on September 12, 2019. ( Wikimedia Commons: Dorian Cieloch )

Another witness, Stephen How Kee, wrote on social media that it "looked like a shooting star" and when it stopped, it "left a cloud of smoke".

Mossman resident Alan Carle said he and a group of tourists also witnessed the phenomenon.

"There was a very bright trail of light that went through and it just exploded," Mr Carle said.

"Of course you couldn't hear anything because it was so far away, but a couple of minutes later we were standing there talking about it and we just hear this thunder, but there's not a cloud in the sky, so there's certainly no thunder around."

Geoscience Australia said it was looking into the incident.