THE controversial Muckaty Station will be "as safe a place as any" to stick a nuclear waste dump despite being on the edge of an earthquake hotspot, a seismic expert said.

Tennant Creek, 110km south of the proposed waste site, has been listed among Australia's top-four quake regions in a hazard map.

Geoscience Australia senior seismologist Dr Mark Leonard said the town had "pretty regular" 3.0 magnitude shakes.

But he said they were in a concentrated area and Muckaty would be on the outer.

"It's in the background, not where there is high activity," Dr Leonard said.

Research for the new map was based on numerous earthquakes experts have recorded since about 1960.

Tennant Creek had three big ones - 6.4, 6.4 and 6.6 magnitude - on January 22, 1988.

Dr Leonard said the event was unlikely to happen again.

"Residents probably feel a tremor every month of two but big earth quakes are rare," he said.