Two earthquakes shake northern NSW

SMH.com.au

TWO earthquakes have struck in northern NSW, and have been felt in Tamworth, Gunnedah and Coonabarabran and in areas more than 100km away

A 4.2 magnitude quake struck at Lake Keepit, northeast of Gunnedah, at 9pm (AEST) tonight, Geoscience Australia says.

It had a depth of 17km.

A similar sized earthquake nearby struck about two minutes earlier, the Australian Seismological Centre says.

The centre’s director Kevin McCue said these were the first earthquakes greater than magnitude 4 to strike inland northern NSW since December 1969, when a magnitude 5 quake struck near Coonabarabran.

Mr McCue said the Friday night quakes were felt as far as Coonabarabran, 120km from the epicentre, as well as in Tamworth and Gunnedah.

“I was talking to people up there. All the glass was jiggling in cupboards,” he said.

“It’s unusual to have an earthquake of this size.”

He said it’s unlikely the quakes caused structural damage to homes in major towns, but some may have cracked walls or chimneys.

Twitter accounts have come in from Tamworth, Manilla and Gunnedah.