The high temperature for the day at Portsmouth International Airport at Pease was 45 around noon on Thursday, and dropped to 32 by midnight, according to the weather site Weather Underground. In some cases, people in houses a few hundred yards away do not notice anything," according to the Maine Geological Society. "The primary way that they are recognized is that, in contrast to an earthquake, the effects of a cryoseism are very localized. The Maine Geological Survey said that frost quakes are a natural phenomenon that produce ground shaking and noises similar to an earthquake, but are caused by sudden deep freezing of the ground. "Most years we hear reports of 'frost quakes' in the region." "They're more often to occur when we get a cold snap at the beginning of the year," Jamison said earlier. Forecaster Sarah Jamison at the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine, told Seacoast Current that they are not uncommon in New England. One possible explanation could be a cryoseism, also known as a frost quake. The US Geological Survey did not report any seismic activity in the northeast United States on Thursday. One commenter joked it was the Patriots season crashing to the ground after Thursday night's 24-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The last one was about 15-20 minutes ago," Cindy Soucy Wiswell wrote. "Heard it in Brentwood…3 loud booms," Janice Murray Asamoa wrote. "Heard it 3 times in Fremont," Jeremy Murphy commented. But cryoseisms certainly are rattling and, because they aren’t all too common, often leave many wondering what just rocked through the neighborhood."My husband heard it outside in Exeter," Jennifer Vallone wrote. The great news is these frost quakes almost never do damage, being rather shallow and lacking the power of actual earthquakes that form from shifting of plates deep within the ground. Scientist sheds light on winter phenomenon known as a frost quake CBC News Posted: 2:00 AM PST Last Updated: FebruAn ice storm in Halifax on Feb. Where do frost quakes typically occur?Īnywhere we find these conditions met – rain saturating the ground, cold air rushing in and a lack of snow atop the ground that would otherwise insulate it from the rapid cooling – frost quakes can occur, including the Northern Tier of the United States. It's a small split, but one that forms rapidly and sends a booming noise echoing around it. If you fill the cube tray all the way, the ice will be protruding outside the tray when it forms.Įxpansion of water as it freezes to ice is the key to frost quakes: the rapid expansion of water in the soil – lodged between dirt, in cracks of rocks or between rocks, etc. We’ve all seen the property of water expanding when it freezes – filling the ice cube tray in the freezer is the classic example. The setup for a frost quake, also known as a cryoseism, is this: soil is saturated from steady precipitation, sometimes including snowmelt, when rapid cooling of the air takes place as colder air surges in. In response to the rapid cooling of the air, the ground – usually already just a bit above freezing – cools quickly to below freezing, resulting in the water in the top several inches of the ground to freeze quickly. Our best guess is that it was a frost quake. Not at all uncommon in the Northeast – or anywhere else that sees the rapid arrival of cold air – frost quakes aren’t really earthquakes, but they do resemble them in the way they rattle those close enough to experience them. Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox.
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