Earthquake Booms, Seneca Guns, and Other Sounds
Introduction & Basics
Earthquake “booms” have been reported for a long time, and they tend to occur more in the Northeastern US 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 sources. 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.
As it turns out….there are many factors that contribute to the “sound’ that an earthquake makes. To begin to understand these factors we have to understand the different types of waves, the speed they travel through the earth, and the speed that sound travels through the air.
Perhaps the best way to understand earthquake sounds are from an actual experiment that took place back in the 80’s in California by David Hill. Dr. Hill’s team recorded sounds that came out of the earth (from nearby small earthquakes between magnitude 2.0 and 3.0) and simultaneously measured the arrival of the P wave on a seismograph. Researchers also reported hearing a sound before the S waves were recorded; this turned out to be the arrival of the P wave. See this Alaska Science Forum article entitled “Earthquake Waves Outrace Sound” for a description of that experiment.
Observations of Earthquake Sounds
Spokane, Washington
The most recent documented earthquake sounds were from a swarm of small earthquakes that unnerved the city of Spokane, WA in 2001. Many of the Spokane quakes were definitely accompanied by “booming sounds”. The quakes in Spokane were shallow, sometimes only a mile or two deep. This probably contributed to all the noise they made. Higher-frequency vibrations make the booming sound, and when quakes are deeper, those vibrations are gone by the time they reach the surface. Sometimes the quakes boom even when no vibration is felt.
New Madrid, Missouri
There are accounts of “artillery”-like sounds that were said to have occurred before or during the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812.
Charleston, S. Carolina
As with most historical earthquakes, details about sounds and the actual level of ground motion related to the Charleston, SC Earthquake (1886) are somewhat sketchy and hard to authenticate. “Dutton, Clarence E., 1889: “The Charleston Earthquake of August 31, 1886,” Ninth Annual Report, 1887-88, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington D.C., p. 203-528″ is perhaps the most comprehensive scientific document that compiles seemingly credible accounts from numerous sources. Dutton objectively sums these interviews/observations with the following:
“According to the testimony of some, the first intimation of the disturbance was a strange sound or murmur. Others say that with the sound they felt the trembling, and that both increased, at first steadily, but by perceptible stages, and then suddenly or by swift degrees, to the full roar and energy of the climax. Dr. Manigault resides in a very quiet street near the Battery, and but a few hundred yards from the estuary of the Ashley River. He was engaged in a game of chess, and a member of his family was sitting by an open window. The latter, surprised or perhaps alarmed by the prolonged sound, arose, crossed the room, entered the hall, and passed out into the open air before the doctor became aware of anything unusual. The sound appeared to come across the water of Ashley River from the west-southwest. Another observer of intelligence was seated in the park at the Battery, near the statue of Jasper. He suddenly became conscious of a deep murmur, which swelled in volume, and which appeared to come from the open bay, lying southeastward. Very soon there was a sound of agitation in the leaves of the trees overhead, and at the same instant, he thinks, he became aware of a tremor in the ground. Springing to his fee, there suddenly broke upon his ear a rapid swell in the sound, which became a mighty roar, and with the roar came a shock.”
It is apparent from these observations that, at least for the main shock, people heard the actual low-frequency motions of the damaging earthquake waves as they rolled across the region and right down their street…..the “roar’ came with the “shock”.
As for scientific evidence for loud sounds that preceded the 1886 Charleston, SC Earthquake, there is none. To our knowledge, there were no seismographs or barographs that recorded the earthquake. The only data that was collected that could have scientific significance (aside from tide gauge and other water surface measurements, was from large clocks that stopped due to ground motions. Unfortunately, none of these clocks were precisely synchronized so those data are of poor quality.
For several weeks after the Charleston Earthquake (8/31/1886), there were many aftershocks that were reportedly accompanied by “loud detonations”. But there was little mention of sounds occurring before an event. The earth was in a fairly continuous state of agitation and it would be difficult to relate a specific sound to a specific earthquake. The following account from the Dutton report is particularly informative:
“For several weeks following the principal disturbance minor shocks continued to be felt at frequent intervals. Many of them would have been considered very forcible and alarming and they not been greatly disparaged by the convulsion of August 31. Almost all of them were accompanied by loud detonations. Mr. McGee thus describes several which he experienced.
I reached Summerville about 5 o’clock p.m. Detonations were heard at intervals averaging perhaps half an hour. From that time until 9:30 p.m. occasional and very slight spasmodic tremors of an instant’s duration accompanied the detonation. I endeavored to determine the direction from which the sounds came, but no two individuals agreed. They seemed to me to come from the northwest. They were much like, but somewhat more muffled than peals of thunder at distance of half a mile or more, or perhaps more like the discharge of a blast in a mine or quarry at a little distance.”
Seneca Guns
The term “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. Similar booms are called Barisal guns in coastal India. These phenomena have also occurred in three widely separated places around the world. That’s about all we know about the Seneca guns.
What might be the cause
The thing that comes closest to matching all of the observations is sonic booms from military aircraft. Articles in the media have summarized reports of Seneca guns from coastal South Carolina, and another article reports on one loud boom that was heard in Myrtle Beach, SC on Dec. 14 of an unspecified year. The sound was so loud that it shook a window and the sofa that the person was sitting on, and she felt the shock from the sound. Thus, a loud enough boom can be felt.
In the Myrtle Beach case, the Air Force claimed responsibility and said that they had been conducting training exercises at the time. The seismologist whom I called in Virginia reported that, during the 1970’s, Seneca guns were heard on the coast of Virginia. Reporters and seismologists investigated for several weeks but were unable to determine the cause. Finally, the Navy admitted that one of their planes had caused a sonic boom. The problem with sonic booms is that they cannot explain Seneca guns that occurred before supersonic jets.
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. In particular, naval gunfire might have caused some of the booms that were heard during the 1800’s and early 1900’s, when it might have been more common for ships to fire within a few miles of shore. However, naval gunfire cannot explain the Seneca guns inland, around Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake. These lakes are much too small to have any military vessels on them, and no navigable rivers connect them to the ocean or to the Great Lakes.
Earthquakes are also a possible cause. 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 (these are the instruments that record ground shaking for seismologists to analyze). 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.
What is probably not the cause
Tidal wave: any wave large enough to produce shaking and booms on land would have been reported. I have not found any reports of tidal waves.
Landslides off the continental shelf: these have happened in the geologic past, but I don’t know of any reports that they happened during recorded history. The main effect of large landslides under the ocean would be tidal waves, which we’ve already considered.
Industrial disasters, like the Chernobyl explosion: anything that large would be reported. There would be no way to hide the news because too many people nearby would have seen, heard, and felt the blast, and there might be injuries too.
Global warming: the articles that suggest this don’t offer any explanation of how a gradual warming of the atmosphere would produce something as sudden as a loud boom. Also, global warming would affect the whole globe, whereas Seneca guns have only been reported from a few areas.
A hole in the ozone layer: holes in the ozone layer form over the north and south poles, not over the U.S. or India. The reasons why they form are well understood, although I don’t understand them myself because I’m a geologist, and the reasons apply only to polar areas.
Shifts of tectonic plates: there are no tectonic plate boundaries near the east coast. The nearest plate boundaries are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and in the Caribbean Sea.
Pockets of air being released: air can fill small pores between particles of soil, and cracks in the rock, but it’s not held in pockets that are tight enough to contain it under pressure. If the air is not under pressure, its release would not make booms or shake the ground.
Methane released from the ocean floor or lake bottoms and exploding when it rises to the surface and contacts the air: there is methane buried under the ocean floor and bottoms of lakes. It forms from the gradual decay of buried plants and microscopic animals. Sometimes the methane can seep upward to ground level. However, it does not come up suddenly enough or in large enough amounts to cause explosions. Also, burning methane makes flames and a couple of the articles that Google listed point out that flames have not been reported at the times and locations of Seneca guns.
New faults forming: fracturing rock to produce a new fault, as well as moving an existing fault, should produce an earthquake. We’ve already examined earthquakes.
Cold air meeting warm Gulf Stream air: the articles that I’ve read which suggest this cause do not explain how it would operate. Two results might be thunder and lightning, but Seneca guns have been reported in clear weather as well as stormy.
A meteor exploding in the atmosphere: this suggestion would have to be evaluated by an expert in meteorites. It’s a possible cause, but my guess is that any meteorite large enough to cause something as strong as a Seneca gun would be much rarer than Seneca guns. If my guess is correct, then exploding meteors might explain a few Seneca guns but not most of them.
Top secret military activity: the problem with this explanation is that it’s too easy. Centuries ago people called on magic the same way. There’s no way to disprove this idea as a cause of Seneca guns, because if it’s top secret we won’t know about it, but I’ve never seen any reason to take the explanation seriously. Sure, the military has lots of secrets, but something big enough to cause Seneca guns in so many regions, including India, would be really hard to keep secret. One of the great things about America is that it’s hard to keep big secrets here. Most of us, including me, would be eager to share a really big secret with friends and family, and if we weren’t lots of reporters would be glad to do it for us.
Indian ghosts firing guns to disturb descendants of settlers who took their land: you made the best assessment of this suggestion: “we want an explanation, not a ghost story”.
Lightning: Some of the Seneca guns have been reported in clear weather.
Conclusion
There does not appear to be any agreement on what causes the Seneca guns. They have been occurring in several places around the eastern U.S. and in India for at least a century or two. As far as I can tell, they have worried people but they have never caused damage or injury. The Earth is a complex place and there is a lot about it that we don’t understand. Perhaps someday we will understand what causes Seneca guns, but right now we don’t understand what makes them. However, they do not seem to pose a threat to anyone.
References
- Hill D. P., Fischer, F. G., Lahr, K. M., and Coakley, J. M., 1976, Earthquake sounds generated by body-wave ground motion: Bulletin Seismological Society of America, v. 66, no. 4, p. 1159-1172.
- Kitov, I. O., J. R. Murphy, O. P. Kusnetsov, B. W. Barker, and N. I. Nedoshivin, An analysis of seismic and acoustic signals measured from a series of atmospheric and near-surface explosions, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 87, 1553-1562.
- Stiermann, D.J., 1980, Earthquake sounds and animal cues; some field observations, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 70, 639-643.
- St-Laurent, F., 2000, The Saguenay, Québec, earthquake lights of November 1988-January 1989, Seism. Res. Lett. 71, 160-174.
- Tosi, P., De Rubeis, V., Tertulliani, A. and Gasparini, C., 2000, Spatial patterns of earthquake sounds and seismic source geometry, Geophys. Res. Lett. 27, 2749-2752.
- Tsukuda, T., 1997, Sizes and some features of luminous sources associated with the 1995 Hyogo ken Nanbu earthquake, J. Phys. Earth 45, 73-82.
- Hill D. P., Fischer, F. G., Lahr, K. M., and Coakley, J. M., 1976, Earthquake sounds generated by body-wave ground motion: Bulletin seismological Society of America, v. 66, no. 4, p. 1159-1172.
- Kitov, I. O. , J. R. Murphy, O. P. Kusnetsov, B. W. Barker, and N. I. Nedoshivin, An analysis of seismic and acoustic signals measured from a series of atmospheric and near-surface explosions, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America; December 1997; v. 87; no. 6; p. 1553-1562.
- Stiermann, D.J., 1980, Earthquake sounds and animal cues; some field observations, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 70, 639-643.
- St-Laurent, F., 2000, The Saguenay, Québec, earthquake lights of November 1988-January 1989, Seism. Res. Lett. 71, 160-174.
- Tosi, P., De Rubeis, V., Tertulliani, A. and Gasparini, C., 2000, Spatial patterns of earthquake sounds and seismic source geometry, Geophys. Res. Lett. 27, 2749-2752.
- Tsukuda, T., 1997, Sizes and some features of luminous sources associated with the 1995 Hyogo ken Nanbu earthquake, J. Phys. Earth 45, 73-82.
What IS this strange sound from the sky? Noise heard across the globe for nearly a DECADE – but nobody has an explanation
- One woman in Canada has recorded chilling sounds several times
- At its strongest, eerie noises sounds like a trumpet
- Similar outbursts have been captured on countries around the world including the U.S., Ukraine, Germany and Belarus
- One man in the U.S. says he woke up screaming after hearing the sounds
Sounding like a trumpet or a collective from a brass section of an orchestra, a selection of videos shot from the Canada to Ukraine, via the U.S., Germany and Belarus show strange goings on above us.
And the eerie sounds have been continuously heard at all different times and locations for almost a decade.
This is the sound wave captured from the noise in Germany, that appeared to leave a child frozen in shock
The first video posted on YouTube recording the unusual, unearthly sounds, was in 2008 when a user recorded the strange sounds in the sky from Homel, in Belarus.
That same year another anonymous user shared the ‘ear-deafening’ sounds that they insisted ‘were not a hoax,’ from a quiet neighbourhood believed to be in the U.S.
Kimberly Wookey from Terrace, British Columbia in Canada first captured the alien sound in June 2013, and since then she has managed to capture several recordings of the noise with her most recent being on May 7 this year.
Writing on YouTube, where she posted the videos, Ms Wookey writes: ‘On the morning of August 29, 2013 at approximately 7:30am I was awoken by these sounds.
‘I shot out of bed realizing it was the same sounds I had heard before and I ran looking for a camera to try to capture them with. I came out into the living room to find my seven-year-old son awake and scared wondering what was going on. He had said the noises woke him up as well and shook his window.
As the wind shook the huge trees in British Columbia, the eerie sounds were recorded by one quick-thinking resident
This wave form shows how the sound was recorded when captured in Canada
‘I managed to record three clips showing almost five minutes of these strange sounds. After it was over and I sat down at the computer to upload the video. After checking my Facebook I noticed a lot of locals had heard the same sounds again but this time it was far more widespread.
‘I have no idea what these sounds are but it is pretty strange and I am glad that I was able to catch them this time and share what I heard. The sounds were heard again on Sept 8th at 6:30am so far we have confirmed reports of it being heard from town to the lake, 25km away.’
So what does the mother of four think the noises are?
‘I personally do not believe this has any religious connection, nor do I believe it is aliens, graders, trains, construction, etc,’ she added.
‘I do believe it could be a geophysical phenomenon.’
Kimberly was so spooked by the sound coming from the sky she contacted her local construction company to try and get an answer.
Her efforts hit a dead end when the company replied informing her that none of their machines could make such a noise (see screenshot above).
Another recording of the sound was captured in Kiev, Ukraine in August 2011. An eyewitness said: ‘The sound was extremely loud, with some people 30-40km from the recording also hearing it in other cities
‘It was in the news with the investigation with specialists and scientists, but there is still no exact explanation.’
Encounters with the noise has even caused some people to have vivid nightmares for days after the event.
Aaron Traylor captured a recording in Montana in the U.S. on February 18, 2012, and said: ‘I’ve had vivid nightmares ever since I posted the very eerie strange sounds that has Missoula talking and looking towards the sky; awful, awful nightmares.
‘My wife woke me from a dream last night where she says I was screaming like she’s never heard me scream before.
‘I was taking my daughter out for her daily exercise along with my dog. I started to hear the sounds early on in our little adventure and the first time it was heard my dog perked her ears up and my daughter stopped in her tracks.
‘That sound was identical to the one I had taped later, and lasted just as long. Now since I’ve been following this worldwide strange sounds phenomenon for some time, the whole ‘End of the world’ thing popped instantly into my head.
‘What if this was one of those sounds? I had my phone ready to capture the next one just in case. Sure enough, five minutes later the sound had returned.’
Aaron doesn’t subscribe to the theory that the noise is made by trains or aeroplanes.
‘The Missoula rail system is one very loud and unpredictable beast. Trains connecting their loads to another is a sound very familiar to locals. Loud bangs and screeches can be heard from nearly 10 miles away at any given point throughout the day,’ he added.
‘Still, that doesn’t explain the fan-like whirring sound that can be heard at the start of the recording.’
‘I’ve lived in this neighbourhood for nearly four years and have heard all kinds of planes coming and going overhead and on the runway. I’ve never heard a plane sound like this before.
‘My neighbourhood is very quiet and we were about three blocks away from any busy intersection during the incident. Can’t say I’ve ever heard an automobile of any kind with that kind of noise.’
A video from Germany taken from a window pans onto a street and shows a child frozen still as the chilling sounds echo over the landscape. And in Salzburgh in Austria the noise is magnified across the Eastern Alps.
In Allen, Texas, U.S. back in 2012, the mysterious noise had a group of people stop what they were doing in a car park and look towards the sky, with one exclaiming: ‘It’s weird, I’ve never heard anything like that.’
Geoscientist David Deming from the University of Oklahoma has previously written about a phenomenon called The Hum – ‘a mysterious and untraceable sound that is heard in certain locations around the world by two to ten per cent of the population’.
Writing in the Journal of Scientific Exploration, he said that sources of The Hum could include telephone transmissions and ‘aircraft operated by the U.S Navy for the purpose of submarine communications’.
According to Nasa, the Earth has ‘natural radio emissions’.
The Agency said: ‘If humans had radio antennas instead of ears, we would hear a remarkable symphony of strange noises coming from our own planet. Scientists call them “tweeks,” “whistlers” and “sferics.”
‘They sound like background music from a flamboyant science fiction film, but this is not science fiction. Earth’s natural radio emissions are real and, although we’re mostly unaware of them, they are around us all the time.’
For instance lightning can produce eerie-sounding radio emissions, Nasa added.
Earthquakes can also produce sub-audible sounds, according to seismologist Brian W Stump from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
During the second half of 2011, a lot of people all over the planet started reporting hearing really strange noises coming from the sky. In some instances the noises produced a loud rumbling such as a train, a thunderstorm or the slamming of a heavy door would make. In other instances, the noises sounded more like “groaning”. In yet other instances the noises sounded almost as if a trumpet was playing. Dozens of videos went up on YouTube purporting to document this phenomenon, but the truth is that you can fake almost anything on a YouTube video and many dismissed these strange “strange sounds” as an Internet hoax. However, now entire towns in the northern part of the United States are hearing strange noises in the sky and the mainstream media is reporting on it. In fact, one U.S. town is planning to spend thousands of dollars to hire an engineering firm to investigate where these strange sounds are coming from. At this point a lot of theories about these strange noises are being floated, but so far scientists have not been able to give us a definitive explanation for the source of these strange noises. So exactly what in the world is going on?
This phenomenon made national news again this week because of what has been going on in Clintonville, Wisconsin. Hundreds of residents of Clintonville reported hearing incredibly loud noises coming from the sky for several nights in a row. Even CBS News is reporting on what is happening in Clintonville….
Since Sunday, the residents have been disturbed by “booming” noises loud enough to wake them from their sleep.
Last night, hundreds of people attended a public meeting to get to the bottom of booms. But they aren’t any closer to the truth.
One resident told CBS News, “The last few days we’ve been having (a) booming shaking noise.”
Another resident said, “(For) a lot of people the house is rattling, you can feel the ground rattling, and it’s booming all the time. It’s kind of like, what’s going on? You don’t know what’s happening.”
So what is causing these noises that are so loud that even the ground is shaking?
According to Fox News, the town has investigated every possible explanation that they can think of for these strange noises….
City officials say they have investigated every possible human cause. They checked water, sewer and gas lines, contacted the military about any exercises in the area, reviewed permits for mining explosives and inspected a dam next to City Hall. They even tested methane levels at the landfill in case the gas was spontaneously exploding.
So far no explanation has been found. So Clintonville has decided to spend $7,000 to hire an engineering firm to investigate the cause of these strange noises.
According to geologists, the town does not sit on any fault lines and the ground beneath the town is very solid. Some geologists are claiming that “micro-quakes” could have been responsible, but others find this explanation to be very unsatisfying.
For many town residents, solving the mystery is not as important as getting these strange noises to stop so that they can get some sleep.
The following comes from the recent Fox News article mentioned above….
“My husband thought it was cool, but I don’t think so. This is not a joke,” said Jolene Van Beek, who awoke early Sunday to a loud boom that shook her house. “I don’t know what it is, but I just want it to stop.”
But Clintonville is not the only town in Wisconsin where strange sounds are being reported.
Mysterious noises are also being reported in a town called Montello which is 80 miles away from Clintonville.
Posted below is a local news report that discusses the strange noises that are being reported in Clintonville and Montello….
These strange sounds have made the mainstream news up in Canada as well.
Recently, strange noises caused such a violent shaking that they actually brought down a barn on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
Geologists say that no earthquake occurred at the time that the barn collapsed.
So what caused the barn to collapse?
That is a very good question.
And this is not just a North American phenomenon.
If you go on to YouTube and you do a search for “strange sounds” or “strange noises” you will find dozens of videos from all over the world. Yes, there are definitely a few videos that appear to be hoaxes, but is that true with all of them?
The evidence for this phenomenon is mounting and it is getting really hard to deny that there really are large numbers people all over the globe that swear that they are hearing really strange sounds coming from the sky.
So exactly what in the world is going on?
Well, there are a lot of theories floating around on the Internet. The following are some of the most prominent theoriesabout what is causing these strange noises: electromagnetic noise, earthquakes, “fracking”, rock bursts, venting of high-pressure gas that has been trapped underground, meteor showers, HAARP or directed energy weapons, and some believe that all of this is just a giant publicity stunt.
Perhaps the biggest reason why these strange noises have so many people alarmed is because humans generally have a great fear of the unknown.
If the cause of these strange noises is revealed, the hysteria will die down.
But if these strange noises continue (or even become more intense) and there continues to be no scientific explanation for them, then the hysteria may turn into full-blown panic.
What is clear is that our planet is becoming increasingly unstable. As I have documented previously, earthquakes are becoming more frequent and more powerful. The “Ring of Fire” is becoming a lot more active and we have been seeing a disturbing amount of volcanic activity lately.
So could earth changes have anything to do with these strange noises?
We just don’t know at this point.
Most of the time when I write an article I like to have some answers. But I do not know what is causing these strange sounds.
So what do you think about these strange noises?
Do you believe that you know why they are happening?
Have you heard strange sounds coming from the sky where you live?
Please feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment below….