A 3.8 magnitude earthquake hit Boston and Maine

A small but rare 3.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of southern Maine early Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey, sending tremors further south. Providence, RI, and Cape Cod, Mass.

The epicenter was about 10 miles east of Portsmouth, NH, the report said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

According to the self-reporting tool, people reported feeling shaking in Providence, about 100 miles southwest of the storm’s center, and Augusta, Me., about 90 miles away.

Maine’s emergency management agency said on social media that the earthquake occurred at 10:22 a.m. As seismologists review the data, they may update the magnitude of the quake. those.

The morning shake caught many New Englanders off guard.

Joe Watts, chief executive of Star Island, a summer community and conference center off the coast of New Hampshire, said he initially thought the boiler at his Portsmouth office had exploded. NH. A friend on the phone with him at the time of the earthquake said a truck had driven into a building.

The shaking lasted about 10 seconds, he said.

“We’re probably heretics compared to people in the Bay Area,” he said. But for this quiet corner of New England, “it’s a big deal,” he said.

Jane Sweeney, an activities assistant at a senior living community in Rye, NH, seven miles south of Portsmouth, said she had just finished an art class around 10:30 p.m. in the morning the floor and walls of the building began to shake. , he thought the oil burner might have exploded in the basement.

“It was very scary – it really shook me – and I ran to see the residents,” he said. “Everyone came out of their rooms. This is not something we are used to here.

Jenna Russell contributed to the report.