The federal government’s Geoscience Australia registered a 2.5 magnitude earthquake at 1.51pm about 20 kilometres north of Orange, near Mullion Creek.

Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Professor Phil Cummins said despite earthquakes being recorded in the region this year, there is no pattern that indicates the number of earthquakes in the area is increasing.

“I’d say there’s no reason for earthquakes to become more common than they had been in the past [and] there’s no reason to think that the average rate has increased above the historical norm,” Professor Cummins said.

The exact location of the earthquake, according to Geoscience Australia:

He said the earthquake was most likely caused by interior stresses in the earth’s crust due to a build up of pressure from forces at the edges of the Australian tectonic plate, which reaches as far as New Zealand, India and Papua New Guinea.

“My understanding is it’s at zero depth,” Mr Cummins said of Sunday’s earthquake.

Although no damage was reported, he said Geoscience Australia received between 20 and 30 field reports of shaking.

At 1.07pm on Sunday, a magnitude 2 earthquake was recorded near Katoomba at a depth of 10 kilometres.

Last Sunday, a 3.5 magnitude earthquake hit just south-west of the Cadia Valley Operations (CVO) gold mine site at 2.33am, striking at a depth of 10 kilometres.

At 2.30am on Good Friday this year, a 4.3 magnitude earthquake hit five kilometres west of the CVO site.