Arctic blast could trigger rare ‘frost quakes’

Cracks and booms may have people thinking they felt an earthquake during the upcoming Arctic outbreak, but the unusual phenomenon has roots in the bitterly cold winter weather.

The coldest air of the winter is about to descend across the United States, and the upcoming Arctic express could set off loud booms that feel like earthquakes.

These events, known as frost quakes, occur when plummeting temperatures cause water in the ground to freeze. As the ice expands, stress builds up in the ground, and when the pressure becomes too great, the ground gives way, creating a loud pop and rumble similar to an earthquake.

“Within the U.S., they happen most often across the central and northern Plains into the Northeast, but any place that can have saturated ground and rapid freeze cycles could experience them,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.

This week’s Arctic blast will send sub-freezing temperatures reaching as far south as the Gulf Coast states, which could set off frost quakes in areas that rarely experience the phenomenon.

Despite being similar to earthquakes, they are not related to the movement of tectonic plates. As a result, frost quakes are localized events with a smaller risk of damage than earthquakes.

Frost quakes are also known as cryoseisms and can be loud enough to jolt people awake in the middle of the night.

“Cryoseisms typically occur between midnight and dawn, during the coldest part of the night,” the Maine Geological Survey explained. “Due to their haphazard occurrence and the generally minor effects, there is not much scientific data about cryoseisms, but it seems that the particular combination of weather conditions is more important than the type of geology or soils in determining where they occur.”

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