Was it an Earthquake? Saturday, February 25, 2006By DARLA L. PICKETT Staff Writer Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. SKOWHEGAN -- Reports continued to pour in Friday from residents who said they experienced what appeared to be earthquake tremors at about 10 a.m. Thursday morning. Although state officials said no seismic experience was recorded on any of the instruments in Maine or New England, Somerset County's Emergency Management Director Robert Higgins Sr. said he still aims to get to the bottom of the mystery. Higgins said the number and validity of reports received Thursday and Friday -- in addition to similar reports last Friday in Solon -- indicate Thursday's event was significant and not just a sonic boom. "Something was wrong," Higgins said. "What bothers me is that it didn't show up on any of the seismic equipment. Those overseas (jet) flights are up 24,000 to 30,000 feet. That wasn't it. The incidents covered such a large area of such significance, if it didn't show, why didn't it?" On Thursday, at least a dozen residents reported tremors within a 15-mile radius between Anson, Madison, Skowhegan and Norridgewock. On Friday, however, the calls about Thursday's incident came from farther away -- including Winslow, Freedom, Clinton and the Johnson Flats Road near the Burnham-Pittsfield town line. Bill Jefferson, a customs official at Coburn Gore, said he was at his North Pond Road in Winslow on Thursday, working on his computer, when he heard and felt the earth shaking. "My dogs went berserk," Jefferson said. "I've experienced an earthquake before, and this was an earthquake." Lawrence Tilton on Dudley Corner Road is just as sure it wasn't an earthquake. He said he was going to his mailbox Thursday when the earth shook and he saw jets overhead: "It was a sonic boom. Mystery solved." Sheila Gilbert on Johnson Flats Road, said the earth movement "shook my whole home; it rattled the whole trailer." Margaret LaRochelle, of U.S. Route 2 in Norridgewock near My Cousin's Place, said the shaking and thud scared her dogs and her daughter. Bob Poulin, at a mobile home park in Clinton near Galusha's store, said his wind chimes started shaking and he turned on his scanner to see what was happening: "It was quite a shake." Most of the callers said they were glad to read in Friday's Morning Sentinel that they were not alone in their experience. "I heard the noise and I thought it was an accident out front... I'm glad I wasn't the only one," said Victoria Bowring of Clinton. Katherine Waite, an American living in Munich, Germany, wrote in an email that she read the Sentinel article and had an explanation. She said she belongs to an active Web forum that recently discussed "big boom noises." She said some of the members are engineers from the aerospace industry and they said that if military jets are scrambled, they break the sound barrier at a lower altitude than normal, which could cause a sonic boom. Attempts to reach a military official for a response were unsuccessful. back to sky quake reports Questions Swirl Over What Went 'Boom' Over Northwest KATU 2 News - Portland, Oregon www.katu.com March 13, 2006 By KATU.com Web Staff PORTLAND, Ore. - People from the coast all the way to the mountains heard mysterious rumbles Saturday night, so what on earth were they? No, it was not an earthquake from Mount St. Helens and it was not thunder and lightening. It seems everyone had their idea what the noises were and nearly everyone had a different opinion about how long it lasted. What do you think it was? A meteor was the best guess from the National Weather Service, but that is unconfirmed. The Cowlitz County 911 dispatch center told KATU News they heard it was military jets causing sonic booms. Monday morning, KATU contacted McChord Air Force Base to find out if they were conducting some kind of exercise over the metro area. We are still waiting to hear back from them. TV News Script: [TAKE OFF NATS] FROM F-15'S LAUNCHING AT PDX (Don :14 "all of a sudden I felt the walls of my house shake and rumble.") [Duration:0:05] TO A FIREBALL... LIKE THE ONE CAUGHT ON TAPE LAST YEAR... (Jenny 6:07 "Just bang, stopped dead in my tracks.") [Duration:0:03] TO THE SEISMOGRAPHS THAT TRACK EARTHQUAKES...PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR ANSWERS. DON ALLEN EVEN CALLED 9-11. (Don Allen #1, 19:14 "9-11 can I help you? - Up in hazel dell there were just two loud rumbles.") [Duration:0:04] JENNY SWINMURN ALSO CALLED 9-11 THINKING A MAN WAS BREAKING INTO HER HOUSE. (Jenny 6:50 "It was more like thunk. It sounded like someone big and heavy was climbing over a wood fence.") [Duration:0:06] FROM TALKING TO SCIENTIST WE CAN RULE OUT AN EARTHQUAKE FOR THE STRANGE RUMBLE OR RUMBLES...DEPENDING ON WHO YOU TALK TO. WE CAN RULE OUT MT. ST. HELENS.. AND A THUNDER STORM [Notes:THUNDER NATS] IS ALSO OFF THE LIST...BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE REPORT EXPERIENCING THE SAME THING… AT THE SAME TIME...OVER SUCH A LARGE AREA. (Jenny 7:46 "which leaves us with two things - 7:48 "aliens.") [Duration:0:04] MAYBE NOT ALIENS... BUT EXTRATERRESTRIALS... IT COULD HAVE BEEN A METEOR LIKE THIS ONE ON DISPLAY AT OMSI. (Jim Todd, OMSI 12:14 "If it's a fireball, when it comes in the atmosphere, generally it will break the sound barrier, a boom, boom, kind of a fraction of a second from each other.") [Duration:0:09] (Jenny 7:00 "It wasn't like a boom and that was it, it was a little longer.") [Duration:0:05] WHICH WOULD SEEM TO POINT TO THE F-15'S AT THE PORTLAND AIR BASE. THEY WERE DOING LOTS OF FLYING OVER THE WEEKEND. BUT THE AIR GUARD TELLS US ALL OF THEIR FIGHTERS WERE ON THE GROUND BY 6PM… SATURDAY...THREE HOURS BEFORE THE MYSTERIOUS SOUND. THAT LEAVES THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSION. (Jim Todd Omsi, 14;42 "You're guess is as good as mine.") [Duration:0:03] (Don Allen, 1:42 "I can't explain it.") [Duration:0:03] back to sky quake reports It Had Thunder of a Sonic Boom, Resident Says April 11, 2007 BY DON WALKER Do you hear anything? This story is developing. If you heard the explosion and would like to comment, please contact Walker at 242-3527 or e-mail dwalker@floridatoday.com. Please include name and a phone number. The explosion was heard miles away. At Pineda Crossing, near the Suntree subdivision, John Panik said he was having trouble sleeping, got out of bed and turned on the television just before 3 a.m. “I was sitting there and suddenly there was a loud boom,” Panik said. “It shook the windows — not like a big rattle, but a little one. I thought, ‘That’s not normal.’” The clock read 3:30 a.m. Panik called the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, and was told by dispatcher they’d send a deputy out to check out the area. He also contacted Patrick Air Force Base, and was told they didn’t know anything about it. “I thought it was a sonic boom,” he said. “That’s what I told the sheriff. Like the shuttle returning, but usually you hear two booms, not one.” This morning, reports of the explosion were all over the television. “Everybody freaked out. My wife said, ‘Oh, you did hear something,’” Panik said. There have also been calls to FLORIDA TODAY from residents in Satellite Beach who heard the explosion. This story is developing. If you heard the explosion and would like to comment, please contact Walker at 242-3527 or e-mail dwalker@floridatoday.com. Please include name and a phone number. back to sky quake reports Unexplained 'Big Bang' Heard Throughout Region By JIM SABIN Newark Advocate February 14, 2007 NEWARK - Something happened at around 9 p.m. Wednesday that a lot of people heard. But nobody seems to have any idea what it was. What it was, though, might forever remain a mystery. It was a loud bang, something loud enough to be heard across southern and central Ohio, and loud enough to make small objects move in houses. Reports have rolled into The Advocate from Hanover to Heath, from Buckeye Lake to Granville, and NBC4 heard reports from Muskingum, Fairfield and Pickaway counties. Rumors range from an earthquake to a meteor strike, a sonic boom to something ice-related. Was it simply falling ice? That's what many, including NBC4's Jym Ganahl, believe. But many also went outside to check because it sounded like their houses had been hit. A few things have been eliminated. Instruments show it wasn't an earthquake. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base told NBC4 that it didn't have any flights in the area, and North American Aerospace Defense Command said it knew of nothing man-made entering the atmosphere. NORAD did report a flight of National Guard jets out of Toledo over southern Ohio, but it was not fast enough to break the sound barrier and create a sonic boom. While we may never know for sure, at least one scientist believes the meteor could be the answer. Mike Hansen, director of the Ohio Seismic Network, said there's no evidence to suggest an earthquake could have caused the bang, especially not over the range specified. NBC-4 fielded calls from Fairfield, Muskingum and Pickaway counties, and the National Weather Service heard similar tales from Cincinnati, Wilmington and Lebanon. Jeff Gill, of Granville, said he saw a meteor with a relatively long trail, with red, green and gold coloration. It was headed east to west and lasted about three seconds; after it faded, the sonic boom washed over him, he said. "I saw it first. It was the most eerie, cool, scary, wonderful thing. You just see this dragon tail going across the sky," said Gill, who also writes a religion column for the Newark Advocate. "All of a sudden, everything goes boom." He said he checked his watch and thought it said 9:42 p.m., but now he can't be certain. A seismograph at the Ohio Seismic Network's office in Alum Creek picked up something that Hansen said was more than likely something noise-related, but other seismographs, including a more sensitive machine in the same building, didn't catch anything. That report was at 8:42 p.m., which is more consistent with the other reports. "His description there of the colors of it are consistent with a meteorite," said Hansen, who has also studied meteorites. "That would be an explanation of a sonic boom-type phenomenon." A sonic boom travels across terrain behind the aircraft - or meteorite - creating it, he said. The speed of an average meteorite, 25,000 miles per hour, would certainly allow for similar reports across the state, and if the object was at a low trajectory, it could be heard literally far and wide. The Licking County Sheriff's Office reported about 10 calls between 8:35 p.m. and 3:48 a.m. from residents hearing loud noises. Five of the calls came between 8:51 and 9:43 p.m. Hansen said he hears similar time discrepancies all the time when dealing with earthquakes, which often are also noticed as loud bangs. "People are notoriously bad at reporting the times," he said. "You have to look at these peoples' reports with a bit of skepticism on timing." Most reported the bang at or near 9 p.m., roughly around the same time the Ohio State basketball game was ending on TV. "The type of waves that I see is not earthquake-type stuff. What bothers me is we don't see it anywhere else," Hansen said. "Right now this is mysterious to me." Major Bryan Hoover of the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office said he heard a loud noise around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. "I got out and walked around my house thinking it was the ice or a tree falling," Hoover said. "But when I didn't see anything I wasn't sure what happened." Hoover said before he left for work Thursday morning he learned his neighbors had also heard the noise. "It wasn't like thunder rumbling," Hoover said. "I felt this. It actually shook the ground." When he reported to work he discovered even more people had heard the noise. "It seems to have been heard all over Muskingum County and into South Zanesville and then into Licking County," Hoover said. "I heard some people reported hearing it at about 6:30 and then 7:30 in the morning. We just can't attribute it to anything." The National Weather Service's station in Wilmington is equally lost, especially after hearing calls from the Cincinnati area. The only common factor is that each area was affected by Tuesday's ice storm. Hansen did offer one idea. He described a phenomenon called a "frostquake," in which water seeping into the ground and freezing can cause the earth to break up and create localized bangs. A spokesman for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base said the base wasn't running any exercises Wednesday night that could account for a sonic boom. comments: And there's more on the way. In 2012 reports say. Will fall in Ohio or New York. Check it out on Google. Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 8:33 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They explained this yesterday on the radio calling it "Ice Heaving". Everyone has ice on their roofs.....the heat from the inside of your home hits the ice from the underneath and when that heat and ice combination hit the freezing temperatures that we've been having at night....BOOM! Everyones houses are doing it....that's why everyone is hearing it at random times throughtout the later hours of the day and into the evening. Good enough explaination for me!! Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 2:42 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I heard this somewhere close to 9pm - -I thought it was a car hitting another one but saw nothing outside - Nice to know others heard it too - amazing how wide-spread the area it was heard in was. Probably was a meteor. Glad it didn't do any damage. Nature is awesome - Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 2:21 pm back to sky quake reports Locals Cite 'Sonic' Booms, Shaking From Quake By Karen Dandurant also by Elizabeth Dinan News@seacoastonline.com November 21, 2007 6:00 AM PORTSMOUTH NH— Joshua Gronblom was working on a ladder inside the home at 154 Ocean Road then he felt about 10 seconds of earth rumbling and "things started falling off the walls." "All of a sudden, I hear this really loud crash. It really freaked me out," he said. "I thought the house was going to cave in on me." Residents of Portsmouth and Rye were left wondering what was going on after they heard a loud boom and many felt their buildings literally shake during an earthquake measuring 2.4 on the Richter scale, and thus considered a minor earthquake. Gronblom said he evacuated the home, where he was hired to do some contracting work, and saw emergency personnel going up and down Ocean Road. A fire truck stopped and inspected the home, he said, before going off to answer multiple other calls about the quake. Gloria Esposito-Anastas, manager of the White Cedar Condominiums off Lafayette Road, was inundated with phone calls from Cedars residents. "It sounded like a gas explosion," she said. "Everyone ran out of their buildings, including me. One guy said he felt a force on his body. After, they all started calling me." Kris Wyatt was working in the West Road office of Bay State Gas when "it felt like the heating system fell over on the roof." "There was a huge noise and it didn't feel like it was coming from the ground. It felt like the roof," she said. "We were all nervous." "The house shook; the sound was like a sonic boom," said Anne Mcgee, who lives on Harrison Road in Elywn Park. "It felt like it was a big explosion right under my house. My bird (a cockatiel) flew off like a bat out of Hades. He's fine now. He took off toward a window, and he doesn't usually do that." Abby Cochran, a veterinary technician at Lafayette Animal Hospital, said she and others were in surgery when the quake hit. "There are apartments above, and we thought someone fell and or something exploded," she said. "It was crazy, just a big bang like a building exploded." "The bang was unbelievable," said Dawn Cundy, who also lives in Elwyn Park. "I called my neighbor, and he said it was an airplane sonic boom. I heard the bang and the floor popped up, jumped me right up. I never felt anything like that." Rye residents felt the effects, too. Chief William Sullivan of the Rye Fire Department said the department was fielding calls from the area of Lafayette Road as far in-town as the Brackett and Random roads areas. "We were called to Rosewood at Rye for the noise and an odor of gas," said Sullivan. "We found nothing. It shook our building, reminding me of the days of sonic booms at Pease. We didn't get any calls for fires or explosions, but we did get calls all over town." Sullivan said the area is on a fault line, so he called state emergency management officials to notify them that there may have been a quake. (Note: No earthquakes where recorded for this area at the National Earthquake Center.) back to sky quake reports MoD to Investigate Sonic Boom Thursday, 22 November, 2007 The Ministry of Defence has pledged to investigate a suspected sonic boom near Halkirk on Tuesday. Residents are used to Nimrods and Tornados flying overhead but were rocked by the ear-splitting explosion which they initially thought was linked to some sort of disaster. A low flying exercise is currently taking place at RAF Kinloss. The inquiry will try to determine whether an aircraft was in the area at the time. (c) North Tonight back to sky quake reports Sonic Boom Shakes Lakeland Alberta, Canada News Reporter Tracy Dermott - clsunreporter@hotmail.com http://www.coldlakesun.com Source: Cold Lake Sun 5217-55th Street By Mail: P.O. Box 268 Cold Lake, AB T9M 1P1 Phone: (780) 594-5881 Fax: (780) 594-2120 Tuesday January 29, 2008 The windows shuttered, houses creaked and people from Cold Lake and Ardmore to Bonnyville heard a large booming noise last Monday night, at precisely 9 p.m. Theories ranged from operations at Imperial Oil to an earthquake. But 4 Wing says there is a simple explanation. After an investigation, 4 Wing has announced all of the above could have been caused by a CF-18 that went supersonic at that time. "The aircraft was well within designated airspace and operating in accordance with all orders and directives," according to a press release from Mario Levesque. The investigation also revealed there was a westerly wind Monday night, which may have aided the sonic boom to be heard so far away. Sonic booms happen when an aircraft travels faster than the speed of sound -- also known as Mach 1 -- which is equal to 1,225 kilometres per hour (at sea level). Public Affairs Officer for 4 Wing, Cpt. Jennifer Jones, said it’s unusual for the sonic boom to be heard, but not unlikely. "It’s not rare -- they go supersonic all of the time. It’s part of their training," she said. 4 Wing apologizes for any disruption the event may have caused. Though its effect is normally localized, certain atmospheric conditions can cause sonic booms to propagate over long distances. The CF-18 aircraft is capable of reaching speeds up to Mach 1.8. The pilots with 410 Squadron have been in the night-flying phase of their training since Jan. 21. The night flying is scheduled to finish Jan. 31. back to sky quake reports Sonic Boom Rattles Visalia Area 1/14/08 California, USA A thunderous sound that spread across Tulare County today was caused by a jet breaking a sound barrier, the Visalia Police Department reported. The sonic boom occurred shortly after 10:30 a.m. Sgt. Allyn Wightman said police received hundreds of calls from worried residents. The sonic boom that reportedly shook houses in Visalia was heard as far away as Pixley and Hanford. Officials from both Visalia Municipal Airport and the Lemoore Naval Air Station said their aircraft were not responsible for the noise. ---- Solved: Monday's Sonic Boom Caused by F-16 ? 1/15/08 An F-16 from the Fresno-based 144th Fighter Wing was likely responsible for a sonic boom heard across Tulare County Monday morning, officials said. The aircraft was undergoing a final check flight as part of extensive routine maintenance when it hit supersonic speeds at 41,000 feet, said Capt. Heather Pratt, wing executive officer. The plane was above Tulare County at the time, she said. Normally, a sonic boom cannot be heard on the ground when such a maneuver is executed above 30,000 feet, Pratt said. Atmospheric conditions might have allowed the sound to carry farther than normal, she said. Pratt apologized for any fear or problems the loud noise might have caused. Comment : As Usual with strange skyquake, if the military choses to deny it, they will state that it was a jet that likely caused it. This explanation may be true, but more than likely it is not. back to sky quake reports Authorities: Rumble Likely a Sonic Boom February 15, 2008 06:04 PM Wilmington, North Carolina USA WILMINGTON -- Local law enforcement officers say a rumble felt across the Wilmington area was likely a sonic boom. We've received phone calls from viewers from around the area, including Wilmington, Bolivia, Southport, Navassa, Winnabow, Leland and Rocky Point, saying they felt the ground shake this morning. A sonic boom is a shock caused by an aircraft. There is no information to indicate another cause, and there are no reports of any damage. back to sky quake reports