Mysterious shaking in St. Clair Shores leaves residents searching for answers

A mysterious boom and shaking in St. Clair Shores Tuesday damaged a 7-Eleven and confused residents who thought it was an earthquake.

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“Patlayan ağaç mı?”: ABD’de aşırı soğuklar buz depremlerini tetikliyor

Meteorologlar, dondurucu soğuklar sırasında toprağın içindeki suyun hızla donmasının ürkütücü sesler çıkarabileceğini ve hatta hafif titreşimlere yol açabileceğini söylüyor. Bu sesler “frost quake” ya da “cryoseism” olarak biliniyor; soğuk havalarda, toprağın içindeki yağmur suyu ya da eriyen kar, sıcaklıklar hızla donma noktasının altına düştüğünde hızla donup katılaşırken genleştiğinde ortaya çıkan bir olgu. Buz genleştikçe, çevredeki […]

Çevre Hattı

> Why freezing temperatures can cause light tremors, loud booms known as ‘frost quakes’ https://nypost.com/2026/01/27/us-news/frost-quakes-why-freezing-temperatures-can-cause-light-tremors-loud-booms/

I woke up in early hours of morning to a small tremor/shake and boom noise. I thought something fell in the apartment initially but checked, all was OK. I think this explains it.

Shit it's cold.
#climate #weather #DeathBlizzard2026 #FrostQuake

Why freezing temperatures can cause light tremors, loud booms known as 'frost quakes'

Unlike earthquakes, frost quakes don’t involve shifting tectonic plates and are generally harmless.

New York Post
An arctic front is expected to bring frigid temperatures to the middle and eastern part of the country and many are talking about #ExplodingTrees. Similar to a #FrostQuake with the loud ‘booms’ it can make. But very rare that a tree actually explodes. #wx https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/22/exploding-trees-frost-cracks-severe-cold-weather/88297067007/
Are trees really exploding in the severe cold? Sort of

With severe cold hitting much of the country, some unusual phenomena like "exploding trees" could be on the way. Here's what to know.

USA TODAY

"The paper reports the first results of an experiment in northern Finland during winter 2022–2023 that aimed at studying seismic events caused by seasonal freezing in the so-called critical zone (CZ) of the Earth...We identified and located two types of seismic events – namely, frost quakes with frequencies of about 10–20 Hz, with waveforms like those of tectonic events, and irregularly shaped frost tremors with frequencies of about 120–180 Hz."

#FrostQuake
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/2223/2024/

Frost quakes in wetlands in northern Finland during extreme winter weather conditions and related hazard to urban infrastructure

Abstract. The paper reports the first results of an experiment in northern Finland during winter 2022–2023 that aimed at studying seismic events caused by seasonal freezing in the so-called critical zone (CZ) of the Earth. These events have attracted public attention recently, as multiple reports about them from local inhabitants in Arctic and sub-Arctic areas appeared on social networks. To make an instrumental study of such events, to reveal the relationship between their occurrence and winter weather conditions, and to evaluate the possible hazard, we installed two high-resolution seismic arrays with co-located soil temperature stations at two sites in Finland, one of them being in the city of Oulu in the sub-Arctic area (65.04° N, 25.61° E) and the other one above the polar circle in the municipality of Sodankylä (67.36° N, 26.63° E). The equipment recorded continuous seismic and soil temperature data during November 2022–April 2023. Based on reports from the inhabitants of Talvikangas (Oulu) about the ground shaking and unusual noises on 6 January 2023 and their observations of new fractures on the roads there, we selected the time interval for the identification of frost quakes that originated during that day from continuous seismic records in Talvikangas and in Sodankylä. During the selected time interval, the extremely rapid air temperature drops of about −1.4 °C h−1 in Talvikangas and −0.88 °C h−1 in Sodankylä were observed. We identified and located two types of seismic events – namely, frost quakes with frequencies of about 10–20 Hz, with waveforms like those of tectonic events, and irregularly shaped frost tremors with frequencies of about 120–180 Hz. The sources of frost quakes in Talvikangas are mainly located on irrigated wetland, while in Sodankylä, about 50 % of registered frost quakes were caused by ice fracturing on the Kitinen River. However, several relatively strong events, with their origin in the wetlands, were also recorded. A significant number of sources of frost tremors are confined to wetland areas cut by irrigation channels and to roads cleaned from snow during winter both in Talvikangas and in Sodankylä. We calculated ground accelerations and ground velocities for the strongest events from both groups and compared them to equivalent properties of other seismic signals, like distant local earthquakes in the area, mining production blasts, and cargo train vibration. Our study shows that high-frequency frost tremors corresponding to surface fracture opening in the uppermost frozen surface layer of a thickness of up to 5 cm can directly damage infrastructure objects like roads and basements of buildings. Surface waves, produced by frost quakes and propagating inside the shallow soil layer, have large enough ground accelerations at epicentral distances of hundreds of metres. Therefore, frost quakes should be considered a phenomenon that can potentially damage infrastructures, and they have to be taken into account in seismic hazard assessments. Our research is the first instrumental study of seismic events originating from wetland areas. These events occur as a result of the interaction between the uppermost layer of the solid Earth's CZ and atmosphere processes that deserves further study.

Frost Quakes Shake Up Finland’s Wetlands

New research shows frost quakes may happen more frequently in wetland areas and, similar to earthquakes, can cause damage to infrastructure.

Eos

In Portland Maine, the winter be cold
Where through town the chill was felt, bold
The quakes all around
With a frosty, icy sound
It's cold enough for frostquakes there to unfold

#portland #maine #winter #frostquake #limerick #poetry

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/02/04/nyregion/cold-arctic-blast-weather/in-northern-maine-its-cold-enough-for-frostquakes

Severe Cold Leads to Record Low Temperatures Across Northeast: Live Updates

Temperatures plunged far below zero in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont as residents hunkered down and shelters hurried to make extra space. Mount Washington set a record for coldest wind chill ever recorded at minus 108 degrees.

Good Morning Canada!
It's minus 20.4C in rural #Caledon this morning and I was up early due to a #frostquake. You know, that noise that sounds like someone dropped a large heavy object on your roof. It's been a while since we've experienced this phenomenon, I think the last time might have been 2014. I was today days old to find out it's called a #cryoseism, that they are ground based and the shock wave is transmitted to your house. Boom...

#Canada #CanadaIsAwesome
https://youtu.be/DpRPYrSN-L0

What’s that sound? Frost Quake!

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