One man died and three others were injured in a condominium explosion that shook the ground for miles early Tuesday.

The body of Peter Corey, 66, was found in the rubble of his condominium at 50 Gables Drive after the explosion at 6:17 a.m., state police spokesman Steve McCausland said.

Three other nearby residents suffered minor injuries and were treated and released, McCausland said. They include Robert and Rosemary MacKay, who occupied the other half of the building; and Mary Hallsey, who occupied an adjacent building.

Investigators from the state fire marshal’s office and members of the Maine Fuel Board continue to work on the cause of the explosion, which woke neighbors, caused temporary power outages for hundreds and leveled a two-unit building.

Sgt. Ken Grimes of the State Fire Marshal’s Office said investigators are considering a propane leak to be a possibility, but said that so far they “do not have any specific details about what transpired or why this happened.”

McCausland said propane was the only source of fuel for heating and hot water.

Fire investigators say some of the other buildings in the area were made uninhabitable by the blast, McCausland said. Yarmouth Police Chief Michael Morrill said an engineer would assess the stability of the remaining properties in the area before residents would be allowed to return.

Using an aerial search by helicopter to assess the impact of the blast, investigators found damage up to 200 yards in all directions, Grimes said. Windows were reportedly blown out of the front of the North Yarmouth fire station down the road from the blast site.

Several agencies sent mutual aid to the scene, including the Portland, Topsham, Freeport and Brunswick fire departments.

Neighbors who live just down the road said when they look outside their house, they saw what looked like a light snow or several dandelion seeds flying in the air, and realized it was ash.

Amory Houghton, one of three members of the North Gables Condominium Association executive committee, was in his garage cleaning when the blast occurred.

“Our understanding is that he didn’t make it,” he said of Peter Corey, who he said is handicapped. “It was a pretty major concussion. It was one big bang. There was no aftereffect, no fire — nothing after the blast.”

Houghton said there are seven buildings in the condominium group with a total of 14 units, two per building.

Photographer Donald Verger, who lives nearby in Falmouth, said he heard what sounded like an explosion just before 6:20 a.m. Tuesday. Verger said he was near the Boston Marathon finish line when those explosions rang out, and said the “concussive” sound he heard Tuesday morning was similar.

“I felt my whole house shake. I thought someone drove into my house,” said Read Thurston, 20, who lives off North Road a half-mile from the explosion. “It felt like a bomb. My entire house shook. I thought somebody had run into my house.”

“It’s awful to have something like this happen this morning,” Thurston said. “I send my prayers and love to all those affected by it in there.”

Brianne Johnston, who lives three-tenths of a mile from the scene, was just leaving for work.

“My son and I were still asleep. The blast woke us both up, of course,” Jay Johnston said. “I thought our grill propane tank exploded it sounded that close. The whole house shook for about 10 seconds. It was very unsettling, it was so quiet right after. Then the police and fire sirens came right after.”

Mark Harlow, who lives a quarter mile away on Melissa Drive, was outside getting the mail when the blast rang out.

“I felt the ground shake. I’ve never felt anything like that in my life,” he said.

Tanner Smith of Yarmouth Point, about a half mile away, reported seeing “white, cotton like stuff falling out of the sky. I found out later it was insulation.”

“This is devastating and I feel for the whole neighborhood,” said Steve Woods, chairman of Yarmouth Town Council. “We’re scheduled to have natural gas here in Yarmouth sometime in the next year, but there is no natural gas in this area. So there’s been some speculation that that could have been a factor (but it couldn’t have been). At this point, all I know is that there’s been an explosion and the whole neighborhood’s devastated.”

The condo complex is made up of groupings of modern, upscale attached homes. The explosion disintegrated one of the homes, turning wallboard into powder and leaving a large debris field around the house and other bits and pieces scattered around the neighborhood.

Voting in Yarmouth’s local elections was scheduled at the Amvets hall, but was moved to the Town Hall.

The explosion was similar to a Feb. 12 explosion at a Bath duplex that was apparently caused by a leak in a propane line. A woman inside the two-unit apartment building was killed and the building was leveled. The Maine Fuel Board, which regulates propane and natural gas, is also investigating that explosion.

“Everyone says Yarmouth is very boring and there is nothing ever going on here,” Thurston said, “and at 6:30 this morning on a normal Tuesday morning, this happens.”

TIMES RECORD staff writer Darcie Moore and The Associated Press contributed to this report. For more, see the Bangor Daily News at bangordailynews.com.