Earthquake? Jersey Shore residents reported a loud, continuous roar

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A powerful and sustained roar shook residents and buildings along the Jersey Shore on Friday afternoon, leading some to speculate on social media that the quake could be the cause.

But the USGS website showed no signs of seismic activity in New Jersey or neighboring states until 2:30 p.m., about 30 minutes after the tremors shook windows and homes.

Residents from as far south as Cape May to Manhawken along the coast and as far west as Glassboro in Gloucester County reported feeling the shaking on social media. The tremor lasted at least 10 seconds.

One user posted on Facebook: “I thought my house was about to explode.”

Hundreds of people reported grumbling within the first hour on Volcanodiscovery.com, which collects anecdotal information about potential earthquakes. Reports included Delaware residents.

“There are some thunderstorms offshore, but nothing close enough to land that you can hear any thunder, I think,” said Alex Starman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Regional Forecast Office in New Jersey.

Starman said those thunderstorms are about 200 miles off the Jersey Shore. He said that based on how far away it was, thunder would be low on the list of possible causes for loud explosions and vibrations reported in South Jersey.

It’s thought to be more likely related to another factor, such as sonic booms from an aircraft, but there’s no way to be sure.

Starman noted that there was some temperature reversal in the atmosphere over New Jersey on Friday, and that could cause sound waves to travel further than usual. So whatever the sound is, it likely originated somewhere far away.

A temperature inversion occurs when a layer of warm air is placed on top of a layer of cooler air. Sound waves from loud noises occurring at the same level as cold air can be trapped and can propagate over great distances.

The Army has a test flight path in the Atlantic Ocean about 3 miles off the east coast, and there will be a sonic boom if the plane is flying fast enough to break the sound barrier.

The latest mystery comes two days after residents of Sussex and Morris counties reported a high, as yet unexplained, boom at around 12:30pm on Wednesday.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Lyn Millisorgo contributed to this report.

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