RIO GRANDE – A spokesperson for the U.S. Navy confirmed, Jan. 14, that it was likely responsible for a sonic boom and resulting tremors that startled much of Cape May County Jan. 13.
Patrick Gordon, public information officer for Naval Air Station Patuxent River, in Maryland, said it was likely one of the Navy’s aircraft had gone supersonic about the time the shock was felt all around Cape May County and beyond.
He said the Navy was still “running it down,” trying to identify the exact cause of the sonic boom.
There is a testing sector off the eastern coastline where the Navy tests aircraft capable of exceeding the speed of sound, which is what creates the “sonic boom.” Gordon said he did not know the type of aircraft that might have been involved.
Sonic booms are normally not heard, as the Federal Aviation Administration banned supersonic flight over land in the U.S. in 1973, but the U.S. Navy tests flight at supersonic speeds over the ocean. Gordon said sonic booms might happen more frequently, but are not noticed by the general public, and without the reaction experienced Friday (Jan. 13).
“We go supersonic from time to time, but it is usually not noticed,” he said.
Gordon said the sonic booms normally don’t make landfall, but they can, particularly when the atmospheric conditions are right, such as in the winter.
Shortly after 2 p.m., Jan. 13, there was a loud sound, perhaps two, that sounded like a semi-truck pulling an empty trailer over railroad tracks that accompanied noticeable earth tremors.
The Herald posted a question on its Facebook page, asking if people in the area felt the tremor(s), and the question received over 120 responses in the first nine minutes.
“I thought a large truck or vehicle hit something very hard…” wrote a reader from just outside Cape May.
“Entire office shook for a good 10 seconds straight here in Marmora, N.J.,” another wrote.
Replies were coming in from all over Cape May County, and from as far away as Millville, Mays Landing, Williamstown and Pittsgrove.
One reader reminded us that it was Friday the 13th.
A call to the U.S. Geological Survey yielded no immediate response, but one person there said it takes time for something like this to show up, adding that chances are it was something atmospheric, rather than seismic. He provided a number for the seismologist on duty with the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado.
The seismologist said they were not seeing any seismic activity in the area, and echoed the remarks from the USGS, saying the accompanying sound suggested it was not an earthquake, but something more atmospheric, such as a sonic boom.
A call to the U.S. Coast Guard Jan. 13 was not immediately returned.
Diane Wieland, from the county’s Department of Tourism, spoke to Marty Pagliughi, Cape May County Emergency Management Communications Center coordinator, and he said that while they had received a dozen or so calls, they were not aware of the cause.
The seismologist from the National Earthquake Information Center said there is a supersonic testing zone off New Jersey and Delaware coasts, as well as a rocket launch pad in Maryland. This was confirmed Saturday morning (Jan. 14) by the Navy’s public information officer.
Thoughts? Questions? Contact the author at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
