RANGELEY — People in the Rangeley area felt a magnitude 2.5 earthquake early Thursday morning, Fire Chief Tim Pellerin said.

The department responded to four calls at about 1:13 a.m. with people reporting explosions, building collapses and furnace problems, but they did not turn out to be that, he said.

The epicenter of the earthquake was at the base of Saddleback Lake in Sandy River Plantation on the side closest to Phillips, Pellerin said.

The relatively small earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey website — www.usgs.gov — was 14 miles northwest of Phillips.

People at the Phillips Town Office on Thursday morning, including Town Manager Elaine Hubbard, did not feel the quake.

In the Rangeley area, the noise was loud enough to wake people and it shook people’s homes, Pellerin said. 

On the “Did You Feel It?” section on the Geological Survey’s website, posts indicated it was felt in Rangeley and Anson.

The Fire Rescue Department responds to calls in the plantations and unorganized territories in the area.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net