THE residents of Gunning and Dalton thought bombs had gone off when an earth tremor measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale hit their area on Thursday afternoon.
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Owner of the Gunning Newsagency, Irene Barrera said the tremor hit at 5.17pm and her tables vibrated so much that buns sitting on top rolled off onto the floor and the cutlery in draws rattled "alarmingly".
Customers have been coming into the shop all day Friday the telling of their experiences.
"One of them who lives closer to the highway rushed out thinking several semi trailers had collided," she said.
"Others, like me, took a while to work out what it was.
"It sounded as though several bombs had gone off.
"Some people actually heard it coming, while others reported how domestic dogs had gone to their doors and started whining minutes before the earthquake actually hit.
"It was the loudest quake I have experienced, the whole building shook but there has been no reports of actual damage in Gunning," she said.
"Some of the old hands reckon an earthquake like this one is a sure sign rain is coming.
"We are looking out for it now."
It was a similar story in nearby Dalton.
Dalton postmistress Lorna Fazldeen said there had been no structural damage in the village.
"It was certainly a big bang and disturbed the pets," she said.
She also quoted the older hands as saying "rain tends to fall three days after a big tremor".
"Dalton used to experience lots of tremors and six years ago, we were getting them one after the other," Ms Fazldeen said.
"They have been rather quiet lately, with one being felt three weeks ago."
According to the head of the Australian Seismological Centre, Canberra man Kevin McCue, the quake, which could be felt in Canberra and Yass, was centred eight kilometres southwest of Gunning township.
It lasted for about six seconds.
He said the Gunning/Dalton area was an earthquake-prone area that may be waking up again after 20 years of seismic inactivity.
"This is actually the second quake the area has experienced in two weeks, Mr McCue said.
"We are not sure what is triggering the tremors, whether it is changes in the ground water levels or just general tectonic tremors, but hopefully they do not keep growing in magnitude," he said.
Gunning was partially damaged in 1934 by an earthquake measuring 5.5 in the Richter scale, roughly the same strength as the one that devastated Newcastle in 1989.
