Community Corner
UPDATE: Shaking on Long Island Caused by Sonic Boom, USGS Says
It wasn't an earthquake, but it gave some Long Islanders a scare on Thursday afternoon.
BY PATCH STAFF
The United States Geological Survey says shaking reported on Long Island Thursday afternoon was caused by a sonic boom in New Jersey.
The USGS say the sonic boom occurred at 1:24 p.m. about 2 miles northeast of Hammonton.
The sonic boom may have been caused by naval aircraft testing over the Atlantic Ocean, NBC reported.
Suffolk Police said they received about a half a dozen calls reporting a possible earthquake Thursday afternoon.
“There was no damage and no injuries,” police said.
According to NASA, a sonic boom ”is the thunder-like noise a person on the ground hears when an aircraft or other type of aerospace vehicle flies overhead faster than the speed of sound or supersonic.”
A sonic boom travels through the air with the airplane so it arrives at different ground locations at different times, the USGS said on its Twitter account Thursday afternoon.
Many Long Island residents took to Twitter to report the tremors:
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