A magnitude 4.5 earthquake has been recorded near Orange - and felt across Forbes and Parkes. The quake, 35km south west of Orange and 5km deep, is the largest on record for the area, Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Dr Phil Cummins said. It occurred at 8.19pm on Tuesday, 14 April, and reports of shaking as far away as Batemans Bay were submitted to Geoscience Australia. Dr Cummins said there were only five earthquakes on record for the location since 1977. "The list of earthquakes reported within 50km of that location shows one that was 4.3 in 2017 and a couple more that were 3.5 to 3.8 in that same area," he said. "It's the largest earthquake ever felt in that area." Aftershocks may follow, diminishing in magnitude and frequency, but Dr Cummins said they would very quickly dimish to where they would not be felt. Members of the public who felt the earthquake are encouraged to lodge a "felt" report online at https://earthquakes.ga.gov.au/ Felt reports compliment the information Geoscience Australia instrumentation captures. "Getting felt reports really tells us how strong the shaking is and helps us how strong the shaking might be in future earthquakes," Dr Cummins said.
