SHARON, FARRELL — A cross arm fell on electric transmission wires Friday morning and knocked out power for 7,100 Pennsylvania Power customers in the Sharon and Farrell areas, said spokeswoman Robin Patton.
It is not known why the cross arm came free at the substation on Sharon-Bedford Road in Masury, she said.
The outage started at 8:35 a.m. Power was restored for 3,400 customers at 9:53 a.m., and the rest got their service back at 11:10 a.m., she said.
While there were rumors swirling Friday that an earthquake caused the cross arm to fall, a geologist with the National Earthquake Center in Golden, Colo., said there were no reports of earthquakes that would have been felt in eastern Ohio or western Pennsylvania Friday morning, and no activity recorded on seismic monitors.
He said that sometimes earthquakes can be too small to be picked up by seismic monitors, but earthquakes in Pennsylvania usually are felt and reported.
