Small earthquake detected in Maine near Canadian border

Two small earthquakes shook the earth in Maine near the Canadian border Wednesday morning, officials said.

A 2.4-magnitude earthquake happened at about 5:45 a.m. and a 3.0-magnitude earthquake occurred at 7:31 a.m. The epicenter was about 3 miles away from Robbinston, Maine, according to the United States Geological Survey.

It’s possible they were two earthquakes, or one earthquake and an aftershock, according to seismic data from the University of Maine at Machias.

It appears there has been 2 Earthquakes this morning centered in the Robbinston #Maine area. First one happened at Approx 5:45am. Second at 7:31am. Both near a 3.0 Mag. Possible two separate quakes or an aftershock. Image thanks to @UMaineMachias seismographs. #MEwx #Earthquake pic.twitter.com/h0PsurEB0A

— NWS Caribou (@NWSCaribou) December 9, 2020

The USGS received 66 reports from people who felt the second quake as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, said Randy Baldwin, a geophysicist at the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in Colorado.

The USGS received at least 30 reports of people feeling the earthquake across the border in New Brunswick, Canada, according to the agency’s website.

“In the Northeast, even a small quake can be felt,” Baldwin said. “It’ll feel like a passing truck, or something like that. There will be a slight swinging of hanging objects.”

Baldwin said an earthquake of this magnitude would not be damaging.