A very shallow magnitude 2.8 earthquake was reported around noon near Orange, New South Wales, Australia.According to Geoscience Australia (GeoAu), the quake hit on Friday, May 15th, 2026, at 1:05 pm local time at a very shallow depth of 3.1 miles. Shallow earthquakes are felt more strongly than deeper ones as they are closer to the surface. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.Our monitoring service identified a second report from the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake which listed the quake at magnitude 2.8 as well. A third agency, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), reported the same quake at magnitude 2.8.Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter. Weak shaking might have been felt in Panuara (pop. 70) located 2 miles from the epicenter.Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Millthorpe (pop. 1,200) located 12 miles from the epicenter. In Orange (pop. 41,900, 15 miles away), Blayney (pop. 3,400, 16 miles away), Canowindra (pop. 2,300, 19 miles away), Molong (pop. 2,600, 28 miles away), Cowra (pop. 10,000, 30 miles away), and Bathurst (pop. 36,200, 35 miles away), the quake was probably not felt.Earthquake data: Date & time: May 15, 2026 01:05 pm (GMT +10) local time (15 May 2026 03:05 GMT)Magnitude: 2.8Depth: 5.00 kmEpicenter latitude / longitude: 33.48°S / 148.99°E (Blayney, New South Wales, Australia)Primary data source: GeoAu