During the early morning hours of Thursday, February 10th, 2011, many residents across Randolph and Darke Counties reported feeling a loud explosion, some saying it felt like an earthquake.
After making dozens of phone calls, and doing plenty of research, nearly every possible logical option was ruled out including an earthquake, sonic booms, an explosion, etc. Speaking to several experts, they seemed perplexed as the reports of this explosion like shaking were fairly widespread with varying reports of when the shaking actually occurred.
The Darke County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management continued to do research and after speaking to experts, it was finally concluded that a very rare phenomena occurred across a large portion of Central and Eastern Indiana and into Western Ohio. This phenomena is called a Cryoseism, more commonly known as a "Frost Quake." While meteorologists and scientists know very little about these Frost Quakes, they more commonly occur across portions of Greenland, Iceland, Canada and the Upper Great Lake states.
Frost quakes are similar to earthquakes in that they often do shake the ground and have been known to cause structural damage. Frost quakes are recorded locally but very rarely are they recorded by more distant seismograph stations.
Frost quakes are often caused by a sudden drop in temperatures, usually well below zero, and occur due to a layer of melting ice or snow which causes a high soil moisture content. It is theorized that Frost Quakes occur more commonly following a significant ice or sleet storm. As the ground freezes the water in the soil expands, causing pressure to build.
Frost quakes occur in a very localized area and it appears that literally dozens if not hundreds of frost quakes occurred across Indiana and Ohio during the early morning hours of Thursday as temperatures fell well below zero. Luckily, no reports of damage have been reported.
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