We've all heard of earthquakes but what in the world are skyquakes? Would it surprise you to know that you have most-likely already experienced one? While this may surprise you, this phenomenon has been around for hundreds of years. Have you ever been enjoying your afternoon when a loud noise erupted from the sky? It could have been mistaken for a gun shot or a car backfiring? Ring a bell? You may have experienced your very own skyquake!
What Are Skyquakes?
Although loud noises can sometimes be an airplane, a car, or even a meteor, others are not so easily explained. For all those that cannot be explained, the "hummer" community is labeling them as skyquakes. Unilad shares that skyqyakes "have been heard around the planet and documented for over 200 years."
So what are they? Well, scientists don't have a definitive answer yet but they do have a lot of theories. "Scientists have considered that the booms may be meteors exploding in the atmosphere, military testing, or even related to storms or earthquakes."
In fact, the first skyquake ever recorded happened during a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. Similarly, similar sounds were heard during other earthquakes such as the one in Charleston, South Carolina in 1886.
The Mystery Continues
Although evidence suggests that the quakes in the sky and the ground may be related, scientists are not confirming anything yet. "Despite the name, seismologists are unsure whether tectonic activity and these sounds are linked in anyway." In 2020 scientists used seismic data to try and determine where the sounds originate from.
They found that the sound has more to do with the atmosphere rather than seismic activity. Eli Bird, a researcher looking into this phenomenon stated, "Generally speaking, we believe this is an atmospheric phenomenon - we don't think it's coming from seismic activity."
While scientists and seismologists continue to uncover the truth about these confounding skyquakes people across the world experience and are in awe of their odd and booming sounds.
