Earthquakes rumble through region and give residents a 'jolt

Geoscience Australia recorded a 2.6 magnitude earthquake northwest of Crookwell, near Crooked Corner just after 11pm on Friday March 15. It penetrated to a depth of 2km and was also registered at Young, Sydney and Canberra monitoring stations.

No one reported to Geoscience Australia that they felt the quake.

In June, 2023, Crookwell was also shaken by a 3.2 magnitude earthquake at a depth of 1km. Eight people reported feeling the event.

Meantime, Geoscience Australia reported a smaller 1.7 magnitude earthquake occurred near Dalton at 2.18am on Sunday, March 17. It started at a 1km depth and three people reported feeling it, according to Geoscience Australia.

The quake originated the day before and was also recorded at Canberra Young, Snowy Mountains and Sydney monitoring stations.

Dalton resident Mike Young said the earthquake woke him on Saturday night.

"It was a pretty small one. There was just a bang, a little jolt but no shaking," he said.

"We get them all the time and often don't notice."

Geoscience Australia has recorded more than 20 small earthquakes in the Dalton and Gunning region over the past 20 years. A fault line running from north to south makes it particularly active.

Mr Young said he remembered the Anglican Church spire being dislodged in a stronger quakes decades ago.

"A lot of houses developed cracks from it but I haven't felt a big one since I was a child," he said.

"It woke my parents up and they said 'what about the children?' But we slept through it."

Mr Young said he could usually hear the rumble when a large earthquake was coming. This was generally followed by a bang and a jolt before it rumbled off into the distance.

Stronger earthquakes in the region included a 4.3 magnitude in 1984, a 5.5 magnitude in 1949 and a 5.6 magnitude in 1934 that was also felt in Sydney and Canberra.

In 2020 a 2.8 magnitude earthquake was felt in Gunning, Jerrawa, Dalton and Yass. In 2012, a 3.6 magnitude quake hit Gunning, rattling cutlery draws and prompting locals to think "a bomb had gone off."