Earthquakes Canada says a 3.0 magnitude earthquake hit an area 23 kilometres west of Miramichi on Wednesday night.

The earthquake shook the area at 11:17 p.m. AT. The depth of the earthquake was 10 kilometres.

Claire Perry, a seismologist with Earthquakes Canada, said the earthquake was felt in the areas around Miramichi including South Esk, Derby Junction, Lower Derby and South Nelson.

"These are usually small earthquakes [with a] fairly shallow depth that are typical of the lower Appalachians, Northern Appalachians zone," Perry said.

She said this is an intraplate earthquake, a type of earthquake that occurs inside the tectonic plate instead of an interplate earthquake, which happens at the edges of a tectonic plate.

It was a minor earthquake, but the depth and magnitude of it may change as the day progresses and more data comes in, Perry said.

The most recent earthquake in the province happened on January 10 in Grand Bay-Westfield, a community northwest of Saint John. It was a 3.7 magnitude earthquake.

"Historically, you might see a magnitude 3.0 or above every one to two years in this region."

'The cats were going crazy'

People across the region reported their house shaking on social media.

Becky Stewart lives in South Esk, an area about 21 minutes outside Miramichi, and said she woke up to the shaking around 11 p.m.

"I went to bed and I was sound asleep and something woke me up and scared me. I woke up gasping and the dog was jumping off the bed and the cats were going crazy."

She said it only lasted a couple seconds, but she could see her room shaking.

"A couple of things fell off the walls in the spare room," she said.

"I was getting ready to get out of bed and go stand under the doorway when it stopped, so I was like, 'OK, it's just a tiny one.'"