'Like a train rumbling past': NSW and ACT shaken by magnitude 4.4 earthquake

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake has struck north of Canberra, affecting thousands of people in the region's largest shake in decades.

Geoscience Australia said the tremblor hit at a depth of 12 kilometres near Boorowa, about 100 kilometres north of the capital, at about 7.10pm.

The light to moderate quake was felt as far afield as Sydney Batemans Bay, Gosford and Albury.

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More than 5000 people reported having felt the shaking.

Geoscience Australia seismologist Hugh Glanville said the earthquake was large for the area but not unheard of.

He said there'd been at least 25 quakes beyond magnitude four recorded there in the past 100 years but this was the biggest since a magnitude 4.8 tremor at Browning that caused minor damage in 1977.

"Around this size is when you start to get minor damage from earthquakes," he said.

"So we don't know at this stage but you can get minor things like plaster cracking, things falling off shells, and light damage to structures."

On Facebook, a Goulbourn resident said it "sounded like a train rumbling past my window and the whole house shook".

There have been no reports of damage.

Glanville said there had been 346 earthquakes within 100 kilometres of the latest epicentre in the past 20 years but most were much smaller.

He said residents could expect aftershocks that would likely be smaller.

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