USGS: Clintonville's Mysterious Booms Caused by 1.5 Magnitude Microquake

Posted on March 23, 2012

A tiny, normally unnoticeable earthquake caused the mysterious booms that frightened residents of Clintonville, Wisconsin. The tiny earthquake that reportedly shook entire homes and kept residents awake and worried at night was caused by a 1.5 magnitude earthquake. The earthquake had a depth of 3.1 miles. USGS has the details here.

WISN 12 Wisconsin quotes a USGS geophysicst as saying, "This is a very, very, very, extremely small quake. It's a microquake."

Some residents are still concerned after learning that tiny, very hard to locate earthquakes, caused the booms. USGS Geophysicist Paul Caruso says, "This is the smallest earthquake I've ever heard anybody feel."

Take a look:

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