PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- A small earthquake struck the Painesville area Sunday, but you may not have known it.

The quake, measuring 2.1 to 2.5 on Richter scale, hit at 12:05 a.m. near Painesville Township and the Grand River.

A few people reported brief shaking, but many individuals may not have realized it was an earthquake or were asleep and did not feel it.

The small magnitude is near the lower threshold of felt earthquakes, the Ohio Seismic Network reported.

The earthquake was recorded at Ohio Seismic Network seismograph stations in Painesville, Ashtabula, and Cleveland, and at seismograph stations of the Geological Survey of Canada in southern Ontario.

The quake occurred at about 3 miles below the earth's surface.

Individuals who felt the earthquake are encouraged to report it on the Community Internet Intensity Web site.

This is the first reported earthquake this year. There were six recorded earthquakes in 2003.