Earthquake in Maine rattles Greater Lynn, North Shore

LYNN – The earthquake that hit southern Maine Tuesday night rattled the Greater Lynn area and the North Shore of Massachusetts.It was felt as fare south as Connecticut and Rhode Island. The U.S. Geological Survey at first estimated 7:12 p.m. quake as a 4.6 magnitude, but later downgraded that to 4.0. The epicenter, about 3 miles west of Hollis Center, Maine, was about 3 miles deep. That location is about 20 miles west of Portland.About 90 miles away in a third-floor conference room in Lynn’s City Hall Economic Development and Industrial Corporation Chairman Charles Gaeta joked, “that was an earthquake,” after his colleague Magnolia Contreras asked if he felt the tremor that swept through the building. Contreras likened it to a train passing too close to the building.”That’s exactly what it felt like,” agreed Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, who was down the hall in her third-floor office at the time.Beth Carmody was standing at the counter in Kennedy’s outer office when she felt the floor shake.”I just assumed someone was moving something,” she said. “I just sort of dismissed it.”EDIC Executive Director James Cowdell, also in the third-floor conference room said he did not notice the quake but just above him Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan, who has a corner office, said he felt it and saw it.”Both (outer) walls were moving,” he said. “My wife was in the backyard with the dog and she said she hear the vinyl siding crack. She thought it was the wind but there was not wind.”Superintendent Catherine Latham was also at home working at her computer when she heard a creaking and felt the entire house shake, she said.”It was very strange,” she said. “I called to my daughter who was upstairs and asked her what just happened.”Seth Albaum said his apartment building, located at 7 Central Street, has a steel frame but it too shook just after 7 p.m.”I thought maybe my neighbor had gotten a treadmill,” he said.Donovan said he had received no calls regarding the mild quake but he said he wouldn’t be surprised if it knocked a brick or two loose somewhere.”That was significant,” he said. “People should check their chimney. That would be one of the first things to go.”The Maine Emergency Management Agency had no immediate reports of damage or injuries.The Seabrook Station nuclear plant, about 63 miles away in New Hampshire, declared an unusual event – the lowest of four emergency classifications, but said it was not affected. The plant has been offline for refueling.”There has been no impact at all to the plant from the earthquake and our refueling maintenance activities have not been affected,” said Alan Griffith, spokesman for Next EnergyEra Seabrook Station.”I heard a rumble,” said Lynn City Clerk Mary Audley. “I was in the council office leaning on the counter. This is City Hall we’re talking about, concrete bricks and steel, and it moved. It was my first earthquake.”(Material from The Associated Press was use in this story.)Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].