12 February 2011

Word of the day: cryoseism ("frost quake")

When I saw this story in the Dayton Daily News (via Fark), I thought it might be a joke:
Frost quakes, a rare phenomena that simulate earthquakes, rattled hundreds of residents Thursday in Darke and Miami counties in Ohio and Randolph County in Indiana, emergency management officials said.

The quake, or cryoseism as it’s known in scientific circles, occurs when moisture soaks into the soil and a quick freeze causes a sudden, even violent expansion and contraction. Darke County’s 911 director Brandon Redmond... who lives in Arcanum, experienced it Thursday morning in the shower. The shaking of his house caused him to rush out of the bathroom at 7:15 a.m...

The phenomenon has been reported mainly in northern states such as Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts and upstate New York.
I found confirmation of the phenomenon at Wikipedia:
Due to the perennial or seasonal frost conditions involved with cryoseisms, these events are limited to temperate climates which experience seasonal variation with subzero winters. Furthermore, the ground must be saturated with water, which can be caused by snowmelt, rain, sleet or flooding and the site of a cryoseism generally has little or no snow cover to insulate the ground.
You learn something every day.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...