'Ice quakes' wake Toronto

[Turgon]

Just came across this article and can attest to hearing these loud booms too. I originally thought it was a transformer explosion or overhead comets. Either way, it's another sign of more strange weather anomalies that are supposed to be rare but that are happening more frequently.

_http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/ice-quakes-wake-toronto

As overnight temperatures in Toronto dipped to –20 C, many people again reported hearing loud booms, which CBC meteorologist Jay Scotland says was likely the result of a "frost quake."

Many on Twitter reported hearing a loud boom overnight.

"Awaken by a loud boom — thought a family member was in trouble," said a tweet by @JanineBaijnath.

Others reported hearing similar noises overnight as Toronto and much of the eastern half of the country were under an extreme cold weather alert.

Scotland said what they likely heard was the result of a weather phenomenon known as an "ice quake" or "ice boom."

The boom is caused when water in the ground expands in extreme cold

"All of a sudden that ice starts to expand — it's like having a lid on top of a bottle, that pressure builds and builds until finally something gives, the ice expands, the pressure is released, the ground cracks and we hear what sounds or even feels like a very localized earthquake," said Scotland.

"This is not an earthquake. It's ice expanding under the ground, and it leads to a loud boom and gets folks pretty scared when it happens in the middle of the night. Very rare, very cool but very scary."

Ice quakes were also reported last week in Toronto.

I did a quick google search looking for the term ice quakes and came across this _http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/01/03/what-is-an-ice-quake_n_4536279.html

It's been a long two weeks for residents of Toronto and surrounding areas, as the aftermath of the ice storm and subsequent frost left many without power for far longer than anticipated, and freezing temperatures made getting around the city difficult. But just as Toronto Hydro reported all power returned to customers on January 1, a new surprise hit the city — ice quakes.

Technically known as cryoseisms, these loud booms result from water in the ground expanding when temperatures drop, according to CBC. The ice and ground beneath it then crumble, making loud noises and occasionally creating electricity.

Torontonians also reported hearing such quakes on Christmas Eve.

“That’s definitely what it was,” David Phillips, Senior Climatologist with Environment Canada, told Global News on Dec. 30. ”It was perfect weather, the perfect condition: not a lot of snow on the ground so the sound wasn’t muffled; it was a very quick drop in temperature; the ground had been saturated from all that wet weather last week, so there was lots of water and ice in the ground."

Although they sound like earthquakes, ice quakes have nothing to do with shifting tectonic plates and, therefore, do not pose the same danger. These "quakes" are far more localized, sometimes affecting only one house at a time, though Toronto Reddit users widely reported them in areas varying from Brampton to Thornhill to Don Mills.

With temperatures in Ontario dropping to anywhere from -20°C to -36°C, residents who have already experienced plenty of new phenomenon this season are bracing for more.

 

[Turgon]

After seeing this article posted on facebook, I think the important thing in regards to these booms are the conditions that are supposedly met in order for a cryoseism to occur (if that's what these booms actually are). The weather has dropped to -20C from + 1 to 2C several times already in a very short amount of time. Considering that the last few winters have been extremely mild with barely any to no snow with spring/early fall-like conditions, this is a sudden change. These articles will probably be the normalcy bias litmus test that will give people an excuse to stop paying attention, if anyone actually was, because this strange, new weather phenomena has been 'explained away' as 'ice quakes'.

 

[ziggystarlust]

There is a small fault/quake line that runs from Pickering (yikes...nuclear plant there) down though Niagara Falls over to Cleveland. Difficult to discern what the anomaly was.

 

[Niall]

I'm very sceptical that these are 'cryoseisms':

Explosive booming noises mystify Vermont residents

http://www.sott.net/article/271239-Explosive-booming-noises-mystify-Vermont-residents

'Frost-quakes' or overhead meteor explosions? Massive boom shakes houses in Toronto

http://www.sott.net/article/271525-Frost-quakes-or-overhead-meteor-explosions-Massive-boom-shakes-houses-in-Toronto

 

[Mr. Premise]

I heard a big boom late last night having a smoke on the porch. It sounded like a transformer blowing but the weather was warm foggy drizzle. It sounded like it was above ground but not too far above ground which is what made me think of a transformer.

FWIW.

 

[Turgon]

I heard a big boom late last night having a smoke on the porch. It sounded like a transformer blowing but the weather was warm foggy drizzle. It sounded like it was above ground but not too far above ground which is what made me think of a transformer.

FWIW.

A transformer explosion or comets were my initial thought too so I checked where the nearest Transformer station was in relation to where my parents lived and asked my grandparents as well as my aunt (who lives closer to the station) and they didn't hear anything.

But yeah, it definitely sounded like it came from above ground but not too high up. But if you heard it in the kind of weather that you're describing then the cryoseism theory, which pretty much no one has heard of before these booms started happening, doesn't match up and is probably a smoke screen.

There is a small fault/quake line that runs from Pickering (yikes...nuclear plant there) down though Niagara Falls over to Cleveland. Difficult to discern what the anomaly was.

I would rule out earthquake because out of everyone I contacted who live within a 15-20 minute driving distance, only one of them said they heard it too.