Geoscience Australia reported one quake with a magnitude of 2.2 hit Temora just before 1.36am on Saturday at a depth of four kilometres.

The monitoring station at Young then picked up another quake at Ariah Park just before 2.58am but this time with a magnitude of 3.8 and at ground level.

The quake at Ariah Park, 26 kilometres to the west of Temora, was strong enough to present a low risk of damage. 

Geoscience Australia has not received any reports of anyone having ‘felt’ the Temora quake but at least one person has report the felt the stronger incident at Ariah Park.

One Temora resident posted on Facebook that they heard a disturbance at the time of the earthquake but “just thought someone was banging on the window”.

According to Geoscience Australia, the severity of shaking experienced during an earthquake depends on a range of factors such as depth, severity, topography and ground conditions.

“In Australia, earthquakes with magnitudes of less than 3.5 seldom cause damage, and the smallest magnitude earthquake known to have caused fatalities is the magnitude 5.6 Newcastle earthquake in 1989,” Geoscience Australia’s earthquake guide stated.

“However, magnitude 4.0 earthquakes occasionally topple chimneys or result in other damage which could potentially cause injuries or fatalities.”