A record-breaking earthquake near a gold mine in NSW’s central west has rattled the ground as far away as Sydney and Batemans Bay.
The 4.5-magnitude quake hit about 35 kilometres south-west of Orange at 8.19pm on Tuesday.
Nearby residents reported 10 to 15 seconds of rumbling, and compared the sound to a jumbo jet. Those closest to the epicentre said it was like a bomb going off.
“It was like an explosion underneath the house,” said Bruce Reynolds, the mayor of Blayney Shire, who lives 12 kilometres from the epicentre.
He said it felt more violent and sudden than a 4.3 magnitude quake that struck in a similar location on Good Friday in 2017.
“This one was different,” Reynolds said. “This is possibly the biggest that we’ve seen in this local area in modern history, since the Richter scale was first used.”
Couches jumped in Mittagong, houses creaked in Lawson, windows rattled in Bathurst and cats acted up in Caringbah, people reported on social media.
The biggest concern was for miners working underground at the Cadia gold mine, close to the epicentre. In a statement, the operator of the mine, Newmont Cadia, confirmed its seismic sensors had detected the quake and that its workforce was safe.
In some cases, mining, fracking, and other human activities such as wastewater injection can induce earth tremors, but a cause-and-effect link between mines in Australia and earthquakes has not been established.
“Mining activity can trigger earthquakes, but it’s very difficult to draw a direct connection,” senior seismologist at Geoscience Australia Dr Phil Cummins told the ABC.
More than 2000 people have reported feeling the recent quake to Geoscience Australia.
“The weak shaking extends as far as Batemans Bay in the southeast, which is a couple of hundred kilometres at least,” Cummins, said. “It’s the largest earthquake ever felt in that area.”
“I would not be surprised if this earthquake were followed by aftershocks.” He said the aftershocks will probably be shorter and less intense than the main quake.
Police are not aware of injuries or damage. Reynolds said the council was checking for damage, particularly on a road less than 100 metres from the epicentre. NSW Recovery Minister Janelle Saffin had been in touch to offer support, he said.
Because the Richter scale is logarithmic – meaning each number represents a 10-fold increase in severity – a 4.5-magnitude earthquake is about 1.6 times bigger than a 4.3-magnitude quake, and twice as strong in terms of energy released.
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