But cryoseisms certainly are rattling and, because they aren’t all too common, often leave many wondering what just rocked through the neighborhood. 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. 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. The increased liquefaction caused significant ground movement, undermining many foundations and destroying infrastructure, damage which may be the greatest. Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox.
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