San Diego residents were left in a panic after they reported hearing loud “booms” in certain parts of the city on Monday. Many of them took to social media to find out the source of the sound that left their houses shaken.
The first sound was reportedly heard around 4 pm local time. Twitter user @christasleeve noted that their “whole house shook” before they heard the boom. Initially, the residents thought someone had crashed into the side of their house. What the heck was that just now in San Diego? My whole house shook and I heard a loud boom, I thought someone crashed into the side of my house or something. No earthquakes reported….” the user said.
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A second boom reportedly was heard a little while after 4:30 PM local time as Twitter user @mexipino78 tweeted around 4:38 p.m. that their backyard sliding door in Otay Mesa was shaking “five minutes ago.” Soon more and more tweets started pouring in.
“Anyone else in San Diego hear/feel that mysterious boom just now?” one user wrote, while another stated, “Yep, just came to Twitter to confirm. Super loud,” someone replied while another agreed: “Yes, whole building shook in Mission Beach.” One more said, “It was scary! Walking my dog across the street and he bolted. All the neighbors came out to ask about it.”
Was it a sonic boom?
While some users speculated that the boom was caused by an earthquake, others thought it was a sonic boom. None of these theories were proven by authorities. Meanwhile, Reddit user @/TestFlyJets noted that the duration of the San Diego booms was “way too long to be sonic boom.” One noted that it was a “solid 3-5 seconds in La Jolla.”
User @Markqz said that sonic booms can last longer if “a jet is coming downwards while traveling at supersonic speeds.” Another user also said that it was unlikely that the boom heard was a sonic boom because “that’s really not how sonic booms work.” They also mentioned that shock waves would be independent of one another if multiple jets were involved in the boom.
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The United States Geological Survey also confirmed that it has not reported any earthquakes in the area.
Booms could be from Camp Pendleton, a military base
Although this is not confirmed, a military base in San Diego, Camp Pendleton, was conducting explosive ammunition training when the booms were sounded. A spokesperson from the Marine Corps told Fox 5 San Diego:
“Although I cannot confirm the exact noise, booms or shakes you are referring to and its cause, here at Camp Pendleton we are conducting routine live-fire training with high explosive munitions that may be heard throughout any time of the day.”
