Country NSW town shaken awake by 3.4 magnitude earthquake

A country town has been rocked by an early morning earthquake.

An earthquake has shaken awake residents in country NSW on Tuesday morning.

The epicentre was 15km south of the town of Singleton.

The small quake was felt just after 5am. In total, 21 people reported feeling the tremor to Geoscience Australia.

A 3.4 magnitude earthquake has been felt near the NSW town of Singleton on Tuesday morning. Picture: Geosciences Australia

The blue squares are people who reported feeling a ‘light’ quake, while the purple or ‘weak’ reports. Picture: Geosciences Australia

The shallow quake was just 2km below the Earth’s surface, below the Bulga open cut coal mine in the NSW Hunter Region.

The epicentre was 15km south of the town of Singleton.

The earthquake is the fifth quake over magnitude three in the Hunter region since August.

Muswellbrook felt 50 quakes and aftershocks from August to November, however scores of residents have had their insurance claims rejected.

Following Tuesday’s quake, local federal MP Dan Repacholi flagged the ongoing insurance issues.

“Another earthquake for the Hunter this morning. 3.4 magnitude at around 5:20am,” he posted online.

“Right near the Bulga and Mount Thorley Warkworth mines. If anyone has any issue with insurance claims, make sure you reach out.”

“I live right near that dot and the mines blasts that we have daily are worse than what that was this morning,” one woman commented on Mr Repacholi’s post.

“3.4? That’s nothing New Zealand has bigger than that daily,” another person said.

More to come

Originally published as Country NSW town shaken awake by 3.4 magnitude earthquake