An earthquake struck the Hunter Region this afternoon.
Geoscience Australia initially issued an alert for a 5.0 (MLa) magnitude quake near the town of Denman, which occurred just after midday at a depth of about 10km.
It was later reassessed as 4.8 (Mw) in strength.
A secondary 2.9 quake at the same depth was recorded about fifteen minutes later, approximately 4km to the north-east of the first epicenter.
The tremors shook the immediate area around Muswellbrook, as well as Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens. It was also felt as far south as the Central Coast and Sydney, and at Tamworth to the north.
Despite a widespread area being impacted, including along the coast, the Bureau of Meteorology assured the public there was no tsunami threat.
NSW Ambulance said they had not received reports of any injuries as a result of the earthquake.
While there were no immediate reports of major damage, some issues are starting to filter through.
According to NSW Police, which is the lead agency, the NSW State Emergency Service is responding to about a dozen minor call outs.
The SES said on Friday afternoon that crews were in the process of responding to minor infrastructure damage in Maitland and Muswellbrook and that the agency was proactively contacting dam owners to ensure that the integrity of those structures remained intact.
Ausgrid is working to restore power to about 2500 homes and businesses following an outage affecting Muswellbrook, Denman, Jerrys Plains, Bureen and Bengalla.
Parents of students at St James’ Primary School in Muswellbrook were asked to collect their children early as there was no electricity, Muswellbrook South was also evacuated.
It was a similar situation at the University of Newcastle, with the city campus briefly evacuated, before students and staff were given the all clear to return indoors.
Jo from Wallarobba, just south of Dungog, said the earthquake felt quite strong when it rocked the house.
“Cupboards shook, glassware clinking together in the cupboards, the television was shaking and also the chairs we were sitting on were moving.”
Debbie was working at Callaghan and described the feeling of the seismic activity as “vibration and wobbling through desk.”
Hundreds of others have taken to social media to share similar experiences from windows and walls rattling or swaying, to pets and livestock behaving strangely.
On average, there are about a hundred earthquakes of above a 3.0 magnitude each year in Australia.