Two Earthquakes Have Shaken Maine Already This Week

Shake, rattle, and roll.

Mother Nature has been busy already this week providing us with the area's first snowfall of the season and cold temperatures, two things that we can definitely feel and see.

But she's also been busy making the earth move as well, as we've experienced two more earthquakes here in Maine this week.

The first happened this past Monday at approximately 7:24 AM when the United States Geological Survey recorded a small quake at 1.4 magnitude at a depth of 3.1 miles below the earth's surface some 3.7 miles south, southeast of Sebec, between Route 16/Milo Road and the Stagecoach Road.

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The second earthquake of the week happened around 1 AM this past Wednesday some 70 miles away from Sebec by the small town of West Forks. That quake was a little bigger at 2.3 magnitude and was at a depth of 1.4 miles.  The earthquake was centered about 8 miles north, northwest of West Forks to the west side of Route 201 on Spencer Road.

Both of this week's earthquakes were relatively small and would resemble the sound and movement of a fully-loaded pulp truck driving by the house if you had taken notice.

As of this writing, Maine has experienced 20 small earthquakes already this year, with the biggest happening some 2.5 miles to the east of Centerville on January 17. That one was registered at 2.9 magnitude, slightly bigger than the one this week just outside of West Forks.

One of the bigger earthquakes in Maine happened in 2006  just east of Mount Desert Island in the Gulf of Maine. That one registered at 4.2 and its explosive sound was heard throughout Hancock County.

According to an article in the Bangor Daily News the biggest earthquake to ever happen in our state took place in Eastport in 1904, and it was measured at 5.0 on the scale, collapsing chimneys as far away as Montreal, Quebec.