One June 11, 2003 the first volcanism article, Volcanoes In California, Idaho, and Pacific Northwest Building Towards Catastrophic Eruptions, reveals a startling discovery to science –the '‘earthquake boom' (see list item 11 of History of ‘'Breakthrough' Technology).

Currently a mystery to seismologists, a powerful explosion sound which eludes detection by the best of seismographs, is a real earth event and should be correctly classified as an ‘'earthquake'. The rare earthquake boom is part of a ‘'family' of five types of events the earth can generate of which only two are known by science. It is important for residents near volcanoes to be aware of the ‘'earthquake boom', although an unnerving experience doesn't indicate an actual explosion occurred or that an eruption is imminent. This article gives insight into why these events occur and what they mean. Included are some hair raising stories from Mt. St. Helens climbers – who experienced a fantastic '‘boom'.

Quake surprises Summerville, South Carolinaby Adam Parker - The Post and Courier - November 20, 2005

Trucks rumbled by, but that wasn't it.

A C-17 or fighter jet might have passed over, but that didn't do it either.

There's been some roadwork in the area, which could easily be confused with tectonic activity, but that had nothing to do with it.

The boom heard across much of Summerville, and the vibration that followed, was actually a little earthquake, the second this year in the area, according to Pete Jenkins, director of the Earthquake Center at Charleston Southern University.

The quake, which struck about 3 p.m. Saturday, raised eyebrows and worried children, but caused no damage. The U.S. Geological Survey took note of the event but did not report its magnitude as of late Saturday.

It came on the heels of the Earthquake Center's Earthquake Awareness Week, co-sponsored by the South Carolina Emergency Management Division. The event concluded Nov. 12. Classes were taught at Charleston Southern University, lectures were presented at the College of Charleston, and drills were arranged at all the public schools in the state, Jenkins said.

The program offered the perfect impetus to become aware of the region's shaky ground.

Buddy Farmer said he took notice after Saturday's quake.

"My wife thought I had fallen down upstairs," said Farmer, who has lived in Summerville for 37 years and is no stranger to seismic activity.

"It seems like there's a little shaking going on every couple of months or so," he said.

Actually, the last little bit of shaking happened on Feb. 22, when the Middleton Place-Summerville Seismic Zone experienced a 2.15 magnitude earthquake, according to Jenkins.

Twelve small quakes struck in 2004; 22 in 2003.

Jenkins said 10 to 20 a year is typical, and that this year is an anomaly. "Hopefully we're not going to make up for it from now to the end of the year," he said.

4.1 Quake Rattles Bellingham, Washington Area - November 23, 2005 - By KOMO Staff & News Services

Whatcom County - A small earthquake shook the area around Deming in Whatcom County Wednesday. There were no initial reports of any injuries or property damage.

The Pacific Northwest Seismographic Network at the University of Washington said the magnitude 4.1 quake occurred at 12:53 p.m. and was centered about five miles east-northeast of Deming, which is west of Mount Baker. It was about a third of a mile below the surface, which is considered shallow.

In the first half hour after the quake, 25 people reported feeling it, describing the shaking as moderate. Some people who called the media reported hearing a loud boom before the quake.

Bill Steele, a UW seismology spokesman, said the quake was the strongest one in Washington in more than a year. The last magnitude 4 quake was in August 2004 near Goat Rocks, between Mount Rainier and Mount Adams, both inactive volcanoes.

Tiny earthquake shakes St. Louis, Missouri region - By Eric Hand - Post-Dispatch 11/23//2005

A minor earthquake ruptured Tuesday night just east of the Mississippi River near Washington Park.

Dozens of St. Louis area residents reported feeling weak shaking with no damage, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The magnitude 2.5 earthquake occurred at 11:05 p.m. Tuesday with an epicenter one mile west of Washington Park. The earthquake ruptured 8 miles below the earth's surface.

By noon today, 48 people from the St. Louis region had reported feeling the earthquake as “weak”, in two of the lowest of nine possible shaking categories, according to the U.S. Geological Survey earthquake hazards program. “Did you feel it?”

Small earthquakes abound in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. There have been 27 tiny earthquakes 2.0 or greater in the seismic zone since the beginning of 2005, according to an earthquake catalog kept by the University of Memphis Center for Earthquake Research and Information

This one, the 28th, was felt perhaps because it was so close. The earthquake was closer to St. Louis than any magnitude 2.0 or greater quake in at least 30 years, according to a search of the University of Memphis catalog, which includes quakes as far back as 1974.

Big bang shakes up Dryden, Ontario area - By Bryan Meadows - Nov 25, 2005, 23:05

The earth moved for Dryden-area residents Wednesday evening. Glasses tinkled, a few homes shook and a large bang was heard about 8:30 p.m. during what seismologists are calling a “small” 1.5 magnitude earthquake, with an epicenter about three kilometres south of the city.

Anne Owens, who lives with her husband Trevor on Wabigoon Lake's Larson Bay, said Thursday that the couple heard a deafening bang, like a sonic boom or explosion.

She said her husband told her it didn't sound anything like earthquakes he experienced while living in Los Angeles.“ It was a like a propane tank exploded, or a sonic boom” from an aircraft flying beyond the speed of sound, Owens related.

Judi Lynch, also of Larson Bay, said she heard the big bang, but experienced “no shaking.”

Two of 10 people who called local radio station CKDR about the loud noise, said they felt their homes shake and items had fallen off shelves.

The Geological Survey of Canada's (GSC) website (http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/) said Wednesday's earthquake was the second seismic event this week in the area. A 1.6 magnitude quake hit 57 km south of Sioux Lookout at about 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Seismic analyst Veronica Peci said the Dryden-area quake was “very local” in nature.

She said the seismic event measured 1.5 on the Nuttli magnitude scale and occurred about six km from a GSC seismic monitoring station near Dryden.

In Canada, two magnitude scales, Richter and Nuttli, are used to determine the size of any seismic events: earthquakes, mining-induced events, induced earthquakes, and other blasts. Both scales are based on the maximum vertical S-phase amplitudes of the seismic waves recorded. The Richter scale is mainly used for Western Canada (west of the Rockies) and offshore seismic events.

GSC spokesman John Adams said Northern Ontario experiences about 40 small earthquakes a year.

Most are not felt because, he said, they're not all that big and occur in sparsely-populated areas.

He said Northern Ontario earthquakes are fairly shallow and affect a relatively small area.

“It's a pretty stable area (of Canadian Shield rock) . . . a long way away from plate boundaries,” Adams said, adding shallow seismic events are normally associated with blasting due to road construction, or mine and quarry work.

As for the cause of the Dryden-area earthquake, Adams said it's likely associated with the Mid-Atlantic ridge and West Coast plate squeezing the continent and the Canadian Shield.“ It means the brittle crust is cracking a little bit. ”Meanwhile, the GSC is interested in what people saw, heard or felt during Wednesday's tremor.

Input can be provided via the website, Adams said.

(Northeast Missouri)

The mystery surrounding a loud, explosion-like noise that had much of Northeast Missouri talking Tuesday afternoon is now solved.

It was apparently a sonic boom, an explosive sound caused by the shock wave preceding an aircraft traveling at or above the speed of sound.

Officials at Whiteman Air Force Base in Knobnoster, Missouri have the official word on the mysterious boom.

The Kansas City Central Control Command was testing an F-18 Superhornet military craft.

They were flying in a FAA approved test corridor.

The noise happened around 3 p.m. Tuesday and was heard by viewers in Queen City, Novinger, Brashear, Edina, Kirksville and places in between.

Eerie recording captures sound of tsunami

Underwater microphones pick up dull, deadly roar in Indian Ocean - By Robert Roy Britt Senior writer

Sound from last December's huge tsunami-causing earthquake was picked up by underwater microphones designed to listen for nuclear explosions.

Scientists this week released an audio file of the frighteningly long-lasting cracks and splits along the Sumatra-Andaman Fault in the Indian Ocean.

The spine-tingling hiss and rumble is an eerie reminder of the devastation and death that is still being tallied in the largest natural disaster in modern times.

At least 200,000 people are thought to have died as a result of the magnitude-9.3 earthquake, the tsunami, and the lack of food, drinkable water and medical supplies that followed.

The audio recording of the quake starts out silent. A low hiss begins and the intensity builds gradually to a rumbling crescendo. Then it tails off but, frighteningly, builds again in waves as Earth continues to tremble.

The audio file is sped up 10 times to make it easier to hear. As it was recorded, the sound was at the lower threshold of human hearing, but it could have been noted by someone paying attention.

"If you were diving even hundreds of miles away you could hear this," said study leader Maya Tolstoy of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. "You would hear it as sort of a 'boom.'"