Did you feel it? Early morning earthquake hits north of Goulburn

The quake struck at 6.41am near Taralga, around 30 kilometres north of Goulburn.

Geoscience Australia reported a tremor with a magnitude of 3.9, which is defined as a slight earthquake on the Richter scale.

Senior seismologist at Geoscience Australia Dr Hadi Ghasemi said they've has numerous reports from Canberra residents.

"The first reports we have received from Canberra indicate a mild level of ground shaking, which is expected given the size and distance of the epicentre," he said.

It's not an uncommon occurence in the wider region, he said.

"Just looking at the 100 kilometre radius of the epicentre, and the past 20 years, we have registered at least more than 250 events," he said.

"All of them were very small, but 20 of them had magnitudes larger than three."

It was a shallow quake, with a depth of one kilometre.

Monitoring stations in Dalton, Western Sydney and Canberra picked up the tremors on May 23.

By 9am, more than 300 people had reported they felt the earthquake, according to Geoscience Australia's quake survey.

Anne Oliver, who lives at Run-O-Waters just south of Goulburn, was awake when she heard the earthquake.

"It was a low, deep rumbling sound, very noisy," she said.

"It lasted for one or two seconds, and there was a shudder towards the front of the house."

Locals told the ABC their dogs were restless, and their china shook in the quake.

But Dr Ghasemi said Canberra residents shouldn't panic about a massive quake anytime soon.

"No one can predict earthquakes yet but I would say just looking at the history and seismic activity, it's unlikely," he said.