Workers at Australia’s biggest underground gold mine were trapped for hours after a 4.5 magnitude earthquake struck near Orange in NSW’s central west.

The quake hit at 8.19pm on Tuesday, with its epicentre located south of Orange, west of Blayney, right next to the Cadia mine, at a depth of five kilometres.

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The tremor was felt hundreds of kilometres away, with reports coming in from Sydney, Canberra and Batemans Bay, nearly 300 kilometres from the epicentre.

“It sounded like a truck roaring past,” local residents said.

Blayney mayor Bruce Reynolds said the quake was powerful enough to crack bricks.

“We got this enormous roar, as in it was like an explosion,” he said.

“The house rocked, as in the roof started to actually move a little bit.”

A gold mine in NSW was hit by an earthquake trapping miners for several hours Credit: 7NEWS

While damage on the surface was limited, the quake triggered an emergency below ground at the Cadia mine, the nation’s biggest underground gold mine.

Miners took refuge for hours before they were brought back to the surface.

Cadia operators Newmont confirmed all workers made it out safely, with only one minor injury reported.

“Well, it’s the largest earthquake that’s been recorded in that immediate area,” Professor Phil Cummins from Geoscience Australia spokesperson said.

“I would describe it as large compared to most other earthquakes we get in Australia, but it’s really not unusual.”

Two aftershocks followed soon after the main quake. Authorities say there could be more.

Over the past ten years, Geoscience Australia has recorded more than a dozen tremors near the mine, but officials say their detectors can’t be precise enough to determine if mining activity triggered the earthquake.

“Certainly, any triggering effect that might have been caused by mining activity would be very difficult to determine,” Cummins said.

Underground operations at Cadia have been halted while specialist teams undertake inspections and assessments.