
Click here to make sure you get the news. Read Dianne de Guzman's latest stories and send her news tips at receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Services such as mail delivery as well as flights out of Chicago continue to be disrupted as the cold weather continued Thursday. Moline, Ill., for example, reached a temperature of minus 33 degrees Thursday, but was forecasted to reach 49 degrees by as soon as Monday.ĭeaths attributed to the cold have totaled 13 so far, and the Illinois Department of Health has said that at least 144 people have received emergency-room treatment due to cold-related injuries since Tuesday.
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READ ALSO: People braving polar vortex to throw boiling water into the airĪfter this week's record lows, temperatures are expected to bounce back in an extreme way, with areas possibly seeing a difference of as much as 80 degrees. They don't release much energy in comparison to a traditional earthquake, and aren't noticeable "past a few hundred yards" of where the ice expansion happens, the New York Times reported. The result? Noticeably loud cracking or booming noises.Īrea you hearing loud bangs? Some of those could be Cryoseisms! AKA Frost Quakes! /I3cRIS4hdC- Morgan Kolkmeyer January 30, 2019įrost quakes also differ from earthquakes in other ways.
#Frost quake crack#
In a rapid temperature drop, that expansion can happen quickly, causing the surrounding soil and rock to crack under the pressure of the ice. Instead, frost quakes are caused when moisture in the ground freezes and expands. The shaking, however, is not part of a true quake, which is caused by the shifting of tectonic plates. "There were boom sounds going on for a while." "It sounded like an animal fell on our roof, or someone something at the side of the house, or a bird flew into the house," read one such comment. READ ALSO: Dramatic temperature swings heading to Midwest Use caution when traveling through early Friday.A thread on the Facebook page of WGN-TV in Chicago collected over a thousand comments from people who said they heard the strange noises overnight. Anything that was wet or slushy earlier today is likely solid and icy at this point. What is of more concern with the flash freeze is the potential ice on roadways. Frost quakes are not commonly reported with damage or injuries. While the sounds can be eerie and cause alarm, there isn't really a huge concern. The rapid change in temperature can also cause cracking and popping sounds in buildings. The materials making up your home also expand and contrast with temperature and environmental changes. You may also be hearing these strange sounds in your home in which a similar situation is occurring. When this occurs, the sudden freeze will cause underground ice to expand, causing soil and rock to crack, which will produce these booms, and in more extreme cases, shakes. During extreme cold events, you may hear a loud boom and feel like you have experienced an earthquake.


A frost quake is a natural phenomenon that occurs when extremely cold temperatures lead to sudden deep freezing of the ground, after it has been saturated with water. The result of these fractures can produce localized ground shaking and noises similar to an earthquake. This is likely the result of frost quakes. A cryoseism, or frost quake, occurs after a sudden deep freezing of the ground, when the pressure created from water expanding into ice abruptly causes stress fractures in underground soil and rocks. Reports of loud pops and booms have been reported across southern Wisconsin Thursday night.
