A record-breaking earthquake that was “like an explosion” has struck central-west NSW.

The 4.5 magnitude quake hit at 8.19pm AEST on Tuesday about 30 kilometres south-west of Orange, east of the underground Cadia gold mine.

The rumbling could be felt for hundreds of kilometres and triggered reports from as far afield as Canberra and Sydney.

Some houses shook for about 30 seconds, according to reports.

Geoscience Australia said it was the largest earthquake on record in the area.

There were more than 2000 reports of tremors in the region.

Blayney Shire Mayor Bruce Reynolds told ABC News Radio it was “like an explosion underneath you”.

“The house was really moving, you could really feel it,” he said on Wednesday morning. “This was right on our doorstep.”

Reynolds said he had experienced earthquakes in the past that normally felt like rumbling. But “this was just like an explosion … and shaking”.

The last earthquake in the area was 4.3 magnitude in 2017. It forced the shutdown of the mine for five months.

Reynolds said Tuesday’s tremor was the biggest he had felt in the area and “much worse” than in 2017.

“My wife was scared and got my daughter outside,” he said.

“A lot of houses shook quite violently and my thoughts go out to any miners that were underground at the gold mine when the earthquake struck.”

The epicentre was about 30 kilometres from Orange. Photo: Orange City Council

Senior seismologist Dr Phil Cummins said only five tremors had been recorded within 50 kilometres of the quake site since 1977.

“This is a large earthquake for this area,” he said.

Cummins expected aftershocks but they would likely be much lighter and felt in a smaller area.

-with AAP