Minor earthquake felt in Prince George, B.C.

Residents of Prince George, B.C., reported feeling a sudden jolt Wednesday afternoon, shortly after 3:07 p.m. PT

Seismic auto detectors initially set the magnitude at 4.1, but Earthquakes Canada officially measured it at magnitude 3.4 minutes later.

The agency says the quake occurred 32 kilometres southwest of the city at a depth of five kilometres.

Multiple residents throughout the community reported having felt the tremor.

No injuries or damage have been reported.

The Rocky Mountain Trench runs through Prince George, so there is a history of seismicity on small fault lines, according to CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe, but it is unusual for minor quakes to be felt by residents.

Cindy Marcotte, who works downtown, says it took her a while to figure out what happened after she felt her office shake.

"My first impression was I thought that someone had smashed into our building," she said. "A lady across the street said [her] building shook so bad, she was terrified."

Earthquakes Canada says given the scale of the earthquake, no damage would be expected.

John Cassidy, an earthquake seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, says earthquakes near Prince George are relatively rare.

He says there have been 25 earthquakes within 100 kilometres of the city in the past 30 years. The largest known quake recorded in the area was a magnitude 5.4 quake that occurred in March 1986.