Over the Back Fence, a column from the managing editor. What was that boom? By Jack Fichter Every so often Lower Cape residents hear a big boom of which there is no explanation. About 2 p.m. Oct. 29, many residents thought they heard an explosion or experienced an earthquake. The first place to check for earthquake information is the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) website to see if a quake was reported. The last offically recognized earthquake felt here occurred August 23, 2011. According to USGS, the 5.9 magnitude quake was centered in Richmond, Va. Since that date, there have been at least five other reports of booms and shakes. USGS created a web page to explain “Earthquake Booms, Seneca Guns and Other Sounds.” It explains: “Earthquake ‘booms’ have been reported for a long time and they tend to occur more in the northeastern U.S. and along the east coast. Of course, most booms that people hear or experience are actually some type of cultural noise, such as some type of explosion, a large vehicle going by or sometimes a sonic boom but there have been many reports of booms that cannot be explained by man-made source. No one knows for sure, but scientists speculate that these booms are probably small shallow earthquakes that are too small to be recorded, but large enough to be felt by people nearby,” states the web page. Most of the booms and shakes will never be explained. An interesting term for this phenomenon is Seneca Guns. According USGS, “Seneca guns is just a name, not an explanation. It does not tell us anything about what causes these noises and shakings. The name originated in a short story that James Fennimore Cooper wrote during the 1800’s. The name refers to booms that have been heard on the shores of Lake Seneca and Lake Cayuga in New York State. The name has been applied to similar noises along the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.” Often the military is to blame for loud noises and shaking. It seems the Navy or some entity has been lurking offshore here since World War II conducting war games and/or experiments. USGS weighs in on that issue. “Naval ships firing their guns offshore might have produced some of the booms. Under certain atmospheric conditions, sounds can travel farther than usual so that they might be heard onshore as loud booms. Naval firing might explain some of the Seneca guns that occurred before jet planes were in wide use.” According to USGS, “in southeastern North Carolina, earthquake lists show seven events between 1871 and 1968. Each event was reported by people who felt it or heard it. The problem with the earthquake explanation is that something that is felt or heard that strongly should have been recorded on nearby seismographs. A seismologist in Virginia who has tried, has never been able to match any of the reported Seneca guns with his seismograph records, and he has tried lots of times over the years.” On March 19. 2013, some sort of tremors were felt in our county. At that time, the cause was thought to be Navy-F-35s flying 30 miles off the coast at 10,000 feet producing sonic booms. Some folks in other parts of our nation report their dogs acting oddly 30 to 45 minutes before a boom occurs. All sort of explanations abound for these booms and shaking from cold air meeting warm air over the Gulf Stream to meteors, landslides, oil exploration in the ocean and giant breaking waves. The night before our latest boom, I noticed a rumbling sound three times. I even tuned into the Weather Channel to see if any thunderstorms were on radar and it was clear of such activity. Whatever the booms may be, they occur all over the world. I’ll accept the explanation of earthquakes that are too small rattle a seismograph but big enough to shake a door on its frame and scare mild mannered people half to death. The other explanation is huge UFO’s offshore are blasting an underwater tunnel to the liquor stores of Sea Isle City. Take your pick.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 16:31:59 +0000
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