TORONTO (AP) — A magnitude-5.0 earthquake struck on the Ontario-Quebec border in Canada on Wednesday, shaking houses and businesses from Ottawa into the United States, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The midday quake was felt in Canada and in a number of U.S. states, including Michigan, Vermont, Ohio and parts of upstate New York.
The USGS said the quake occurred at a depth of about 12 miles. The agency initially said the quake had a 5.5 magnitude but later reduced it to a magnitude-5.0. The quake occurred at 1:41 p.m. EDT, the USGS said.
The quake lasted for about 30 seconds and rattled downtown buildings and houses in Toronto and Ottawa, as well as government offices across the Ottawa River in Gatineau, Quebec.
Several buildings in Toronto and the Ottawa area were evacuated.
Chris Cornell, 46, who works in downtown Toronto, said desks and furniture shook as he sat at his desk in a finance office.
In Michigan, residents from suburban Detroit to Port Huron and Saginaw reported feeling the earthquake.
Detroit police spokeswoman Yvette Walker told the Associated Press that police personnel on the upper floors of the downtown headquarters building reported feeling the quake.
In New York state, people from Buffalo to Albany and north to Massena on the St. Lawrence River said pets were startled and plates rattled when the quake hit.
David French, 53-year-old state worker from Cicero, N.Y., said he was at his computer inside his home near Syracuse when he felt his chair shake.
“I thought the chair was breaking or something,” he said. “I looked over and my filing cabinet was moving.”
The quake prompted several calls to state police in the Adirondacks area.
“A little shake, nothing too big,” is how Trooper Mark Revette described the temblor. “It happens. We get a couple of these a year.”
Kellie Tassone, 40, was at home on Oneida Lake in Cicero.
“My dog picked his head up just before it happened and kind of looked at me,” she said. Then the sliding door started to rattle “and the house was shaking.”
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