The first occurred on January 11 at 1.33am, south-west of Pelaw Main, measuring 2.4 on the Richter scale.

The second – a 2.5 magnitude – struck west of Mulbring on January 21 at 5.11pm.

It was the tenth earthquake recorded by Geoscience Australia near Cessnock since August last year.

The others occurred on August 1; two on September 23 and one the following day; October 20 and 21; November 4 and December 15, and ranged in magnitude from 2.0 to 3.1.

Geoscience Australia duty seismologist Marco Maldoni said there is no answer for the amount of earthquakes in this area in recent times, just that Cessnock is on active fault lines.

“It is impossible to predict when they are going to happen but they will happen,” he said.

He also said that coal mines are often built on fault lines, due to the mineral and iron ore deposits.

Mr. Maldoni wanted to stress that the recurrence of these earthquakes is not unusual and does not hint that more serious earthquakes will result.

“There is no way of knowing; earthquakes are completely random,” he said.

He said these earthquakes will feel different to individuals depending on a number of factors including proximity, the structure of the building the person is in and the amount of storeys that building has.

He said generally earthquakes between 2.0 and 3.1 will feel like a slight vibration: “Just imagine a truck passing by your house.”

He said these sorts of earthquakes generally don’t leave any damage.

Mr. Maldoni pointed out that often earthquakes may be too small to show up on Geoscience Australia’s system, so if you think you may have felt an earthquake, visit the Geoscience Australia website www.ga.gov.au and fill out a felt report.

Geoscience Australia monitors seismic data from more than 60 stations on the Australian National Seismograph Network, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.