Ice Quake! Earth-Shattering Cold
Sometimes frigid temperatures are enough to move the Earth. Learn more!
Extreme cold temperatures during the winter months can result in reports of a little-known phenomenon called cryoseism. More popularly known as ice quakes or frost quakes, because they feel and sound like minor earthquakes, cryoseism is most common on glaciers, where ice is continually expanding and contracting, leading to great booming cracks as fissures form in the ice.
What Causes Ice Quakes?
But ice quakes can also happen on solid land, particularly when soil saturated by rain or melted snow drops in temperature from above freezing to subzero over a short period of time. As the moisture in the soil freezes, it expands.
This rapid expansion places stress on the bedrock below, which can sometimes crack under the pressure with an explosive pop.
The telltale signs of an ice quake are a booming sound, brief shaking, as in a minor earthquake, but in a very localized area, and usually a small crack in the ground, though the latter might be hard to identify in deep snow.
Many people who have experienced ice quakes initially thought there had been an earthquake, and were surprised to find that no one else experienced it.
Ice quakes have been reported in most of Canada. In the United States, only a handful of states experience ice quakes, all located in New England and the Great Lakes region: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
Have you ever experienced an ice quake? Share your story below!
Jaime McLeod
Jaime McLeod is a longtime journalist who has written for a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including MTV.com. She enjoys the outdoors, growing and eating organic food, and is interested in all aspects of natural wellness.
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I live in North East Md where temperatures have plummeted from 50 degrees to below zero within a few days. Christmas Eve my husband and I heard a loud boom but saw nothing outside. Then we heard a second boom and the house vibrated. We looked to see if a large tree had fallen in the yard but sill nothing. I later heard someone call it an ice quake. If it was snowing I would have thought it was snow thunder. That was the first time I’ve heard that before.
Ok so just now i experienced exactly this! I first heard this loud noise accompanied with the house shook real hard and as I was looking at the windows I could see the snow like snow blowing off the roof at the same time so I went out the back door cat had followed right behind me expecting to see all my neighbors out and all I’m screaming what was that? no one else was out there I look like an idiot I cannot believe what just happened
so I started Googling it and of course it came up to this and no one will ever believe it because it was only me and the cats here andlike I said I’m outside screaming looking at my neighbor’s and no one else was out there so I just carefully came back in I’m still shaking over this
Maggie, the same thing happened to me! The cats went crazy. But no one heard or felt a thing. Just an ice quake. Having been through a 7.0 earthquake, I’m familiar with how they feel and they can be very unsettling! But you’re ok!
Live in central ohio. Felt one side of house shake and a loud boom. We thought maybe chimney fell or roof. No such thing…nothing disturbed. A puzzle until saw meteorologist talk about icequake the following morning.
So I wonder if this is what happened last night? ?
We heard a loud boom. I hadn’t gone to bed yet. My husband was in bed sound asleep. He came rushing out to the living room and I was rushing back to the bedroom all to see if each other heard the same thing. He went outside and looked around the house with the flashlight, went up in to the crawl space, checked the furnace, because it sure sounded like something exploded.
I live in Western Kentucky. There was a loud boom yesterday that was heard by neighbors and other areas of the county..which is Graves County. Hadn’t ever heard of a frost quake before. Just wondering if that’s what it was.
Was at home in the afternoon and it sounded like something hit the house (siding or roof) with enormous force and big boom. I live in Kane County, Il just south of Mchenry county. This happened in late January but I also heard an even greater boom in the Fall years ago. It sounded as if a plane crashed in my yard. Nothing observed in either incidents.
Heard them many times. At first, it was startling. I have also had my battery operated clocks all stop at the same time from the cold. Northern Ohio gives us a vast amount of weather oddities.
Several years ago after a soggy fall, winter set in with really cold weather lots of snow. One extremely cold day I was outside a felt and heard a loud boom. Minutes later I went inside used the water and had a massive amount of sand come through the faucet followed by no water. Turned out the ground shifted and sheared off/ collapsed our well. Natural disaster not covered under our homeowners insurance.
this morning a loud crackling boom came from the roof, shook the house.
It felt like a tree landed on the roof. I went outside and everything was fine.
this is weird. it is the second time it happened. the other time was December.
Fairfield county, CT
i woke up to a huge cracking/popping explosion type noise that sounded like something went through the roof at 3:35 a.m. today. I live in McHenry County Illinois and never heard anything like it in my life!! Very scary not having any idea what happened!! Thankfully I did talk to several other people who heard it too! It was a very hard noise to describe, especially being woken up by it! Thank you for sharing all of your experiences and will assume that’s what it was ; )
Where in mchenry. I’m in pistakee highlands… Near johnsburg.. And have been hearing and feeling loud bangs…a few weeks ago it was on the south west part of my yard… Today the northeast side… I’m in my basement and it has happened 4 times in the last hour…