An earthquake striking southern Maine Tuesday evening caused widespread jitters, but no major damage or injuries have been reported.

Emergency responders throughout Cumberland and York counties were swamped with hundreds of calls from people wondering what happened to cause the loud booming noise and a subsequent shaking.

Cumberland County Regional Communications Center, which handles dispatch for 18 of the 28 towns and cities in Cumberland County, received about 300 emergency calls from 7:12 to 7:28 p.m. just after the quake struck, said director Bill Holmes.

“I’m very pleased to say none of those included damage or injury to anyone or any property in our community,” Holmes said.

Holmes said there were eight dispatchers on duty, but because of the volume of calls, he sent out a page to all staff members requesting assistance. Within 15 to 30 minutes, he said, another eight dispatchers were on duty.

Later on Tuesday evening, Holmes said, dispatchers worked with utility companies “to make sure everything was intact, and everything appeared to be fine.”

In the 14 minutes immediately following the quake, Westbrook dispatch received 85 calls to 911, said Greg Hamilton, dispatch communications director.

“There were no calls requesting our services,” he said. “They were all just phone calls asking what just happened and seeking information.”

Hamilton, at Gorham Middle School with his daughter when the quake struck, added that as soon as he felt it, he began contacting employees because he knew something was going on.

There were no reports of damages to Westbrook police.

“If there was damage, it wasn’t in this area,” said Wanda Martin, Westbrook Police Department records clerk. “That doesn’t mean there weren’t calls simply asking what that was, but there weren’t any calls we needed to respond to as a result of the quake.”

“I thought my furnace blew up,” Mike Sanphy, a Westbrook city councilor, said Tuesday night.

Gorham Fire Chief Robert Lefebvre was home when the quake struck.

“It shook pretty good,” said Lefebvre, who also heard a rumble. “I was surprised at the amount of noise.”

The U.S. Geological Survey’s preliminary report said that a magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck southern Maine at 7:12 p.m. Tuesday but later downgraded the earthquake to a magnitude 4.0.

Initially thought to be centered near Lake Arrowhead in Waterboro, the survey reported the quake occurred 5 kilometers, which is about 3 miles, west of Hollis Center. The quake officially occurred at 43.611 degrees north and 70.661 degrees west, the survey said on its website. It occurred at a depth of about three miles.

Near the quake’s epicenter, Don Marean, who lives on Route 35 in Hollis, thought a trailer truck had slammed into his house.

“I thought we’d been broadsided,” Marean said.

The quake briefly disrupted the candidates’ night being held at Gorham Municipal Center, which shook for several seconds.

Philip Gagnon, Town Council vice chairman who was attending the candidate’s night, said Wednesday the municipal center “seemed to shake for a good 20 seconds or so. It appeared that the ceiling was moving before I felt the ground shake.”

“Having the building shake for that amount of time definitely makes one feel uneasy, especially when you don’t know what’s going on at the time,” said Gagnon, “I thought the shaking seemed strong, but this was the first earthquake I have experienced.”

In Waterboro, Lisa Bennett, the town deputy fire chief who is also deputy emergency management director, was in a meeting.

“The building shook and there were loud explosions” Bennett said.

Bennett estimated the shaking lasted about 40 seconds, and the department received numerous calls Tuesday evening.

Erlon Townsend, a Buxton resident, first thought his kitchen stove had blown up with a bang. Townsend didn’t notice any shaking, but heard a roar like one from an airplane.

“I thought it was going to take the roof off,” Townsend said.

Lefebvre said that Gorham did not sustain damage and there were no reported injuries.

Steve Harding, a spokesman for the York County Emergency Management Agency, said it has not received any reports of major damage in York County, but said items were jarred off shelves in homes.

The Maine Emergency Management Agency has not received any need for help calls or requests for additional assistance from the town or county level, according to spokeswomen Lynette Miller.

Miller added that quakes are more common than residents realize, just not of this magnitude.

“We have a number of them. They’re normally just a jolt though,” she said. “This is the first one I can think of that has received this much attention.”

A spokesman for Central Maine Power, John Carroll, said its sub station in Gorham was not damaged and no power outages were attributed to the earthquake.

Diane Screnci, a spokeswoman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Wednesday that the earthquake was felt at the nuclear power plant in Seabrook, N.H., but there was no structural damage.

The plant is about 60 miles from the center of the earthquake.

Screnci said personnel at the plant felt the ground move and staffed some emergency positions to check equipment. Screnci said an NRC inspector confirmed that the plant was stable.

“Everything is fine,” Screnci said.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a magnitude 4.0 earthquake in the eastern United States “infrequently causes damage near its source.”

But, Gagnon advised, “Even though it was a relatively small earthquake, people should still walk their properties and make sure their home didn’t sustain any damage.”

Harding said property owners should check foundations inside and out for cracks and also examine pipes for cracks and ensure pipes are not leaking.

The area is bracing for aftershocks.

“It’s a good bet there’ll be some,” Jim Budway, director of Cumberland County Emergency Management in Windham, said late Tuesday evening.

Reporters Robert Lowell, Matt Soucy, Kate Irish Collins and John Balentine contributed to this story.