'The house shook': Earthquake rattles residents in Sydney's south-west

It's something Sydneysiders have rarely experienced, but today residents in the city's south-west were rattled by a small earthquake.

The 3.1 magnitude earthquake struck in the Appin region about 2pm.

Geoscience Australia said the depth of the quake was approximately 3 kilometres below the earth's surface.

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Just a few kilometres away, locals in the small village of Douglas Park said they felt a jolt when the small earthquake hit.

"It was a very loud bang and it literally lifted me up," one local woman told 9News.

"The house shook. .. I literally got scared because the windows rattled and everything," another woman said.

Another local joked she thought it was "doomsday,"

Other residents reported the quake set the area's dogs barking.

People also reported shakes in Rosemeadow, Ambarvale and even as far as Wollongong.

Geoscience Australia said there had been 48 small earthquakes in the region in the past decade, with the biggest in 2017.