dilly84 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Just some more information I found: AKA an ice quake, or a frost quake. No, not tremors in glaciers and ice sheets; these are 'earthquakes' caused by the freezing of the ground, and as such are highly localized, and are non-tectonic. They can be very loud, and may in some cases be accompanied by electrical discharges1, but they are generally very mild, as earthquakes go. As the ground freezes the water in the soil expands, causing pressure to build. This pressure can expend itself in loud pops and bangs and tremors and jerks. These effects are usually in the IV to VI range of Modified Mercalli Scale for Earthquake Destructiveness -- the 'noticeable vibration' to 'minor furniture-joggling and window-breaking' range. These occur at or near the surface of the Earth, allowing them to be very obvious to those nearby, and completely unfelt by people a 'short' distance (perhaps a mile or so) away. Only thing the doesn't make sense is the ground was already frozen.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallow Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Cool but that doesn't explain the blue flash. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frost_quake Some reports have indicated the presence of "distant flashing lights" before or during a cryoseism, possibly due to the electrical changes when the rocks are compressed.[4] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallow Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Only thing the doesn't make sense is the ground was already frozen.. That's what I'm trying to figure out. Hasn't it been well below freezing there for a while, now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 That's what I'm trying to figure out. Hasn't it been well below freezing there for a while, now? Well we believe that these "frost quakes" have been occurring for about the past 48 hours as we had reports of people feeling and hearing explosions as early as Tuesday Night. We did get above freezing earlier this week before this renewed cold snap hit, so there was a pretty significant period of thawing prior to the rapid freeze Tuesday Night and Wednesday Night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallow Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Well we believe that these "frost quakes" have been occurring for about the past 48 hours as we had reports of people feeling and hearing explosions as early as Tuesday Night. We did get above freezing earlier this week before this renewed cold snap hit, so there was a pretty significant period of thawing prior to the rapid freeze Tuesday Night and Wednesday Night. Was there a lot of snowmelt, too? Because that would be another sign that could point to a frost quake... more water in the soil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilly84 Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 That's what I'm trying to figure out. Hasn't it been well below freezing there for a while, now? Our ground is snow covered and solid and has been for days.. so I'm not sure someone could convince me of that being what was heard. It also seems like that would be a more localized type of deal, not something heard over a wide area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosierwx Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Great , now I'm in a Frost Quake screw zone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-L-E-K Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 i thought the thread title was a joke, pretty badass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 10, 2011 Author Share Posted February 10, 2011 Was there a lot of snowmelt, too? Because that would be another sign that could point to a frost quake... more water in the soil. We have a combo of ice and snow but yes, we did lose quite a bit on Sunday, Monday and even Tuesday. I'm sold, it makes sense to me, all the ingredients were definitely there. Also the fact that these things were reported at all different hours, times, etc. leads me to believe that there were dozens if not hundreds of frost quakes all across Indiana and Ohio. NWS agrees too, fwiw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indystorm Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 The most logical explanation given all the data does seem to be the frost quake, especially since references to lights have also occurred with frost quakes in other areas in the past. This is really fascinating. I had not heard of this phenomenon until today and I was an earth science major in college! Some years ago, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago WX Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Great , now I'm in a Frost Quake screw zone! No doubt, it would have been the cherry on top for this winter here. I can't wait until non-Frost Quake season. But seriously, pretty cool phenomena. Learn something new everyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maumee Bay Turf Center Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Our ground is snow covered and solid and has been for days.. so I'm not sure someone could convince me of that being what was heard. It also seems like that would be a more localized type of deal, not something heard over a wide area. "it was a ufo dilly...we can hold back the truth no longer"...."mulder, get in the car, our work here is done. we cannot hide the truth from dilly..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maumee Bay Turf Center Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 a little o.t. here, but a friend of mine that coaches volleyball at a prominent parochial school near toledo, rode with me to a coaches meeting back in 2003 - needless to say we had alot of time to bull****...his daughter is an engineer at wright pat, graduated from wright state, and is a level 4 or 5 out of 10 as far as clearance there...and he said she comes home every holiday and says something along the lines of "dad, if the public knew the technology we had, they would freak out"..and cant and wont say any more...also said alot of the stuff they work on doesn't look like its from this world, or something to that effect...i always pry for cool stories when i see him... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 I did an interview with the Dayton Daily News earlier this evening DAYTON — Frost quakes, a rare phenomena that simulate earthquakes, rattled hundreds of residents Thursday in Darke and Miami counties in Ohio and Randolph County in Indiana, emergency management officials said. The quake, or cryoseism as it’s known in scientific circles, occurs when moisture soaks into the soil and a quick freeze causes a sudden, even violent expansion and contraction. Darke County’s 911 director Brandon Redmond said the quakes erupted for eight hours Thursday, starting at 1 a.m. The heaviest reports were between 5:30-7:30 a.m. Redmond, who lives in Arcanum, experienced it Thursday morning in the shower. The shaking of his house caused him to rush out of the bathroom at 7:15 a.m., thinking a transformer exploded nearby. He watched as his lights flickered. “It wasn’t ‘till I came in to work that I realized I hadn’t lost my mind, and I started hearing that other people experienced the same thing,” he said. Throughout Thursday, hundreds of messages appeared on the Darke County Sheriff’s Facebook page. Redmond said consultation with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Ohio and Indiana Emergency Management officials led to the frost quake assessment. There have been no reports of damage, Redmond added, although damage has been reported from other occurrences. The phenomenon has been reported mainly in northern states such as Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts and upstate New York. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowlord81 Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I had to think long and hard back to this morning, I was still in bed as I work nights. But my fiance had just went to work and I went back to bed and hadnt quite went to sllep when I heard a very noticeable boom. It was enough to startle me and caused me to sit up and look around. I assumed one of the cats had knocked something over in another room but It was around 6:30am when it happened so I guess it could be attributed to this. Very wierd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilly84 Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 a little o.t. here, but a friend of mine that coaches volleyball at a prominent parochial school near toledo, rode with me to a coaches meeting back in 2003 - needless to say we had alot of time to bull****...his daughter is an engineer at wright pat, graduated from wright state, and is a level 4 or 5 out of 10 as far as clearance there...and he said she comes home every holiday and says something along the lines of "dad, if the public knew the technology we had, they would freak out"..and cant and wont say any more...also said alot of the stuff they work on doesn't look like its from this world, or something to that effect...i always pry for cool stories when i see him... They claim the ufo from roswell is at wright patterson. Read up on it. If you believe in the roswell story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 http://www.whiotv.com/video/26828487/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 We believe we have just received our first report of damage - no confirmed yet, but our EMA will be investigating later, however a citizen called in and said that following the shaking yesterday morning, there window cracked and ended up shattering in their living room - new house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eyewall Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 http://en.wikipedia....iki/Frost_quake Very cool! Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 11, 2011 Author Share Posted February 11, 2011 After doing more research, investigation, making phone calls this morning, it would appear that dozens if not hundreds of these frost quakes occurred during about a 12 hour period. The Ohio State Seismologist Coordinator stated that the conditions present here in Western Ohio were identical to the conditions in Southeastern/Eastern Ohio when they cryoseism occurred a few years ago. Pretty wild stuff and I saved all of the data from my weather station for a 24 hour period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siberian Express Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Another phenomenon I experience when it gets really cold is a 'boom" heard in the house, which sometimes can rattle things on the wall. It's really loud on occasions. It's the wood trusses in the attic as they move due to expansion and contraction. Happens every winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmichweather Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 i'm going to personally ask all of my professors about this, 6 years of meteorology and never heard of anything like this even though it may be more of a geological phenomenon it certainly has a meteorological significance due to its origin of a moist ground and cold air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmichweather Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 if i have to i'll personally create a cryoseisms watch for the nws it'll be based on frost depth, soil moisture and air temperature. Pretty soon you'll be staying up all night waiting for the elusive cryoseisms instead of chasing tornadoes at night. The cryos are a heck of a lot more rare so you might wanna just chase those. You can even head up north during the early summer to keep the chase alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebo Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 i'm going to personally ask all of my professors about this, 6 years of meteorology and never heard of anything like this even though it may be more of a geological phenomenon it certainly has a meteorological significance due to its origin of a moist ground and cold air. Yeah I never heard of this until yesterday myself, but the way it is made out, it seems like this is a common occurrence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue60007 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 After doing more research, investigation, making phone calls this morning, it would appear that dozens if not hundreds of these frost quakes occurred during about a 12 hour period. The Ohio State Seismologist Coordinator stated that the conditions present here in Western Ohio were identical to the conditions in Southeastern/Eastern Ohio when they cryoseism occurred a few years ago. Pretty wild stuff and I saved all of the data from my weather station for a 24 hour period. Now that your story is going across the country, everyone gets to picture you running out of the shower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OHSnow Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Could it have been this? I just came across this in the Pittsburgh thread. In addition to the Allentown, PA explosion, there was a major gas explosion in eastern Ohio that night that caused widespread shaking that was visible for hundreds of miles. It seems hard to think that that could explain the ground shaking so far away but it could have caused some sort of pressure buildup in the gas lines. Might also explain the flash. http://www.fox8.com/...,0,299501.story http://www.city-data.com/forum/pittsburgh/1198668-red-glow-night-nuclear-delight.html Edit: Nevermind, this happened Thursday night and the shaking in western Ohio was Thursday morning. Could be related, though, because it sounds like the cold might be to blame for the gas explosion too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeye Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Another phenomenon I experience when it gets really cold is a 'boom" heard in the house, which sometimes can rattle things on the wall. It's really loud on occasions. It's the wood trusses in the attic as they move due to expansion and contraction. Happens every winter. We live in a house that was built in 1900. Several winters ago I was home by myself working in my upstairs office. All of a sudden I heard a huge crashing noise and it sounded as though a massive piece of furniture had fallen over in our attic. (we don't keep anything up there). I immediately went out back and walked all around the house, looked at the roof, tried to find anything that looked out of place, but everything was fine. It wasn't until a few years later that someone mentioned this phenomenon to me and I immediately related it back to that experience. Never underestimate the volume and intensity of the crashing or boom noise these phenomenom can create.....really shocking. The best way to describe it was a full-sized dining room hutch falling over in the attic. It's probably one of the reasons people believe their houses are haunted..lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherPimp Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 Now that your story is going across the country, everyone gets to picture you running out of the shower LOL I just love how the associated press picked my interview with the Chicago Tribune to distribute all across the United States, in which the last sentence read "Redmond says shaking in his own home prompted him to rush out of the shower Thursday morning." Oh well, everyone knows I was in the shower lmao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indystorm Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Gotta watch LOL I just love how the associated press picked my interview with the Chicago Tribune to distribute all across the United States, in which the last sentence read "Redmond says shaking in his own home prompted him to rush out of the shower Thursday morning." Oh well, everyone knows I was in the shower lmao Gotta watch what and how you say things to the media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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