Boom shakes South Carolina, rattling Columbia and raising questions about the cause
A loud booming noise startled many South Carolina residents as they were getting home from work late Thursday afternoon, raising questions about what caused the sound and shaking that hit parts of Columbia.
The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the phenomenon is consistent with a sonic boom, instead of an earthquake like those that have been recorded in the state this year. Sonic booms can occur when aircraft or other rapidly moving objects exceed the speed of sound.
The booming noise and rattling sparked a flurry of social media posts and neighborhood emails after 5 p.m. The Geological Survey issued a notice about a sonic boom in the area Thursday night. The boom was centered in the St. Andrews area of Columbia, the USGS reports. It occurred at about 5:24 pm, according to the S.C. Emergency Management Division.
Sonic booms can sound like thunder, according to the U.S. Air Force. These booms are caused by an object moving faster than sound -- about 750 miles per hour at sea level, the Air Force says.
“An aircraft traveling through the atmosphere continuously produces air-pressure waves similar to the water waves caused by a ship’s bow,’’ according to an Air Force description of sonic booms. “When the aircraft exceeds the speed of sound, these pressure waves combine and form shock waves which travel forward from the generation or release” point.’’
