SCARBOROUGH, Maine — A 3.8-magnitude earthquake centered near the Maine coast rattled houses in northern New England on Monday and was felt by surprised residents of states hundreds of miles away.

Residents of cities including Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, also reported feeling the quake, as did people in western Massachusetts and the Quabbin area.

The earthquake took place at about 10:22 a.m. on Monday and was centered about six miles southeast of York Harbor in southern Maine, the United States Geological Survey reported. It was reported at a depth of about eight miles, the survey said.

Officials said the quake could be felt in every state in New England and as far away as Pennsylvania. In southern Maine, many residents reported feeling houses and buildings shake as the surprising earthquake interrupted a sunny winter morning.

William Clement, a professor of near-surface geophysics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said 3.0-magnitude earthquakes happen roughly every six months in New England, and 4.0 earthquakes occur once every four or five years. Small earthquakes occur frequently and are not something to fear.

“These things happen all the time,” Clement said. “They’re small enough that maybe you don’t feel it unless you’re really sensitive.”

The quake sent residents and officials in Maine and New Hampshire looking to assess any possible damage. In most cases, residents and businesses reported confusion over what had happened. Many shared stories on social media indicating they initially thought there may have been a nearby car accident or possibly an explosion.

The Maine Emergency Management Agency asked residents to only call 911 in the event of an emergency. The quake did not appear to cause major damage, said Vanessa Corson, a spokesperson for the agency. Corson also said local emergency management agencies did not report damage.

New Hampshire’s Department of Safety said the state’s 911 number did not receive any calls about damage or injuries.

“We have not received word of any issues. We’ve spoken with the directors at York and Cumberland County EMA, and everything seems to be in order,” Corson said.

Justine Wenger, a freelance copywriter working from her Scarborough home, said she was texting with a friend when she felt the earthquake. The vibrations lasted about 30 seconds and shook her house. At first, she thought it was a passing truck, then feared her furnace might blow up so she went out onto her deck.

“I wasn’t terrified, but this felt different than a normal rumbling,” she said. “It felt substantial. There was an instinct to get out of the house.”

Authorities said residents who felt the earthquake could report it to the USGS website. Earthquakes in the central and eastern parts of the U.S. are less frequent than in western states, but they are typically felt over a much broader region, the survey said on its website.

It’s common for there to be two small earthquakes a year in New England, the survey said. A slightly stronger earthquake based in New Jersey shook the Northeast in April.

“People in New England, and in its geological extension southward through Long Island, have felt small earthquakes and suffered damage from infrequent larger ones since Colonial times,” according to the survey’s website.

An earthquake of close to 4.0 or slightly higher in magnitude in the Northeast states “is not particularly common, but it’s not all that rare, either,” said Maureen Long, the chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Yale University. Long cited the April earthquake in New Jersey as an example.

An 2002 earthquake in upstate New York measured at a magnitude of 5.1. There was also a magnitude 4.7 event near Hollis Center, Maine, in 2012, Long said.

In Kennebunk, Maine, school Superintendent Terri Cooper assured parents via e-mail that staff was looking through schools for any damage and everything seemed fine.

“Our operations department has checked all district buildings and systems to ensure they are in working order and no damage has been discovered,” Cooper’s e-mail said.