Second earthquake in two months strikes near major NSW gold mine
An earthquake hit the NSW Central Tablelands, right next to a gold mine where workers were forced to take shelter underground due to a larger earthquake that occurred just two months ago.
The latest earthquake hit southwest Orange, starting around 7:40pm on Thursday and ending around 5:40pm.
According to Geoscience Australia data, the earthquake had a magnitude of 3.4 and a depth of only 1 km, and 110 people reported feeling the earthquake. Most people reported only weak to mild tremors. Tremors were reported from 65 kilometers away, with several people providing ‘moderate’ to ‘strong’ reports to Geoscience Australia.
Online, people say they felt their house “moving a little bit,” while others say they felt and heard the phenomenon.
“I slept in Bathurst,” one person posted.
The epicenter of the quake was right next to Newmont’s massive Cadia gold and copper mine.
In April, a 4.5 magnitude earthquake occurred in a similar region and mine workers had to take shelter underground.
A Newmont spokesman said a short time later that there were no injuries. While the workers came to the surface safely in the following hours, there was no serious damage to the underground areas. Thousands of people reported feeling this earthquake, the tremors breaking bricks in the walls of houses.
Newmont has been contacted for comment on this latest earthquake.
