An earthquake registering 2.4 on the Richter scale hit Lincoln County at 1:20 p.m., according to Tod Hartung of the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency (LCEMA) and other sources.
There are conflicting reports regarding the earthquake’s epicenter. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports that the earthquake was magnitude 2.4 centered offshore about 3 miles southeast of Boothbay Harbor and hit at about 1:20 p.m.
However, Maine State Geologist Bob Marvinney reports that according to data from the New England Seismic Network, the epicenter may have been onshore, south of Edgecomb toward Boothbay Harbor.
A third report from the Weston Observatory at Boston College locates the epicenter three miles north of Boothbay Harbor, which would also place the epicenter onshore in Lincoln County in the same area Marvinney describes.
“It’s often hard to pinpoint the epicenter with a small quake like this,” said Marvinney. “The small quakes don’t generate enough energy to be recorded well, and the margin for error can be one to three miles.”
No reports of damage have been made in Lincoln County, according to Hartung.
The USGS advised that as of 3 p.m. they had received over 100 reports of the temblor from residents in and near Maine, with the furthest from the epicenter being in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Those reports included most towns in Lincoln County, with the highest numbers in Boothbay (16), Wiscasset (15), Boothbay Harbor (11), and Edgecomb (8).
Members of the public who may have experienced the effects of the earthquake and would like to share those with the readership of The Lincoln County News may contact our reporter Greg Latimer at 207-380-9912 (24 hours) or greglatimer@yahoo.com.
The Lincoln County News will continue to follow the progress of this event and post any additional here as soon as it is received.
(LCN reporter Dominik Lobkowicz contibuted to this posting.)