HOUSES shook and residents ran into the streets of Bowral in the NSW southern highlands last night, after one of the strongest earthquakes for many years hit the area.

The earthquake, which measured 4.3 on the Richter scale, was felt as far away as Sydney and Canberra. Its epicentre was thought to be between Bargo and Mittagong.

Police said there were no reports of damage or injuries, but “lots and lots of phone calls”.

“There was this incredible shaking. It felt like a truck had ploughed into the supports of the building. Half a dozen of the staff followed me down the ramps looking for the truck. We couldn’t find any accident,” one resident said, who was in a shopping centre when the quake hit.

Australia’s most destructive earthquake was in Newcastle in 1989, measuring 5.7 on the scale. The strongest in the past 50 years was in 1988 at Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, measuring 6.8.