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Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 56: Mar-Apr 1988 |
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A WEST COAST MOODUS?
Late 1987 to date. Commerce, California.
"Something is going bump in the night under the city of Commerce, rattling nerves and household items alike."'When it goes off, it can shake so badly that you feel it up through your feet and it can collapse your spine.' said David Stacy, a resident. 'Sometimes it would rattle stuff in the house like the earthquake did.'
"The underground explosions occur every 10 or 20 minutes, say residents in the area between Gage and Zindell avenues. They say the tremors have been forceful enough to wake them from their sleep, shake windows and knock down pieces of china."
The muffled explosions are not accompanied by smoke or luminous phenomena. They may be due only to the subsidence of traffic noise. (Chong, Linda: "Commerce Becomes Reluctant Boom Town," Los Angeles Herald Examiner, January 17, 1988. Cr. K.H. Taylor)
Comment. Will Californians let us know more about these subterranean sounds? They resemble the famous Moodus Sounds in Connecticut, which are thought to be of seismic origin. See Category GSD2 in Earthquakes, Tides, Unidentified Sounds. For ordering information on this book, visit: here.