Minor earthquake felt in Prince George, B.C. - Action News
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British Columbia

Minor earthquake felt in Prince George, B.C.

Residents of the northern B.C. city felt a rare, brief jolt Wednesday afternoon.

3.4 magnitude quake reported at 3:07 p.m. PT

A map with a star symbol just southwest of Prince George in central British Columbia.
Earthquakes Canada says a 3.4 magnitude earthquake occurred 32 kilometres southwest of Prince George at a depth of five kilometres. (Earthquakes Canada)

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 agencysays the quake occurred 32 kilometres southwest of the city at a depth of fivekilometres.

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 quakesto 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, anearthquake seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, says earthquakes near Prince George are relatively rare.

He says there have been25 earthquakeswithin 100 kilometres of the city in the past 30 years.The largest known quake recorded in the areawasamagnitude5.4 quake that occurred in March 1986.

With files from Catherine Hansen