© Leo Delauncey / Mailonline
Seismic signals originating off the coast of the small French island of Mayott were detected at seismology station ranging from Chile to New Zealand.
Mysterious seismic waves picked up by monitoring stations from Madagascar to Canada were most likely caused by an underwater volcano, an earthquake expert claims.
A low-rumbling that could not be felt above ground was detected on November 11 and narrowed down the origin to a region just off the coast of the island of Mayotte.
They were similar to those typically seen after large earthquakes, which are known to travel great distances - but, no such earthquake took place.
Theories as to what caused the cryptic rumble ranged from a slow earthquake to an undetected meteor strike.
Comment: This has created a buzz in the scientific community, because seismic signals from earthquakes and volcanic eruption are 'spikier' and don't look 'harmonious' like this.
Strange seismic waves rippled around the world and scientists don't know why
Here in New Zealand, GeoNet seismologist John Ristau said he saw his contemporaries discussing the unusual activity on Twitter when it first happened.
"It is a very strange signal and it can be seen pretty much everywhere around the world. The signal is clearly not like a regular earthquake, it's more like a burst of energy."
Strange waves rippled around the world, and nobody knows why
Helen Robinson, a Ph.D. candidate in applied volcanology at the University of Glasgow: "They're too nice; they're too perfect to be nature," she joked. "What baffles me is how evenly spaced out they were," she said. "I have no idea how to explain that."
Geologists Joke About 'Sea Monster' After Mysterious 30-Minute Rumble Emanates from Waters Near Madagascar
One segment of the signal also featured several high-frequency blips, each separated by roughly a minute of time, a bit like a regular, ticking clock. Stephen Hicks, a seismologist at the University of Southampton, highlighted the phenomenon in a November 12 tweet.
"Something biggggg, yet strangely slow, sent seismic rumblings around the surface of much of the planet yesterday," he wrote. [...]
"It's like a ringing bell. If you want to get a very low frequency, a very low tone, you need that bell to be huge," Ampuero explained.
It's gotta be something cosmic. Did Earth just get 'pinged'?! (And no, not by 'aliens' - rather, by something "bigggggg" but as yet unseen...)
By the way, one week later, this happened:
Despite unusually quiet Sun, solar wind recently produced 'musical waves' in Earth's magnetic field
Comment: See in addition these similar and frequently more gruesome reports of attacks from the last 7 years pointing to the fact that wolves appear to have become a greater threat to people in recent times:
Wolves losing their natural fear of humans? Several attacks reported in 2016 across Canada
Contractor attacked by wolf at Cigar Lake, Canada
Woman survives prolonged wolf attack in India
Wolf kills child and injures 2 others in Pakistan
77 year old pensioner eaten by wolf in Russia
Another atypical animal attack on humans: Villagers viciously attacked by a pack of starving wolves in China
Timber wolves attacking dogs and approaching people in Grand Marais, Minnesota
Russia: Wolves Attack People in Karelian Town
Teacher Candice Berner mauled to death by wolves in Alaska
'Super pack' of 400 wolves terrorise remote Russian town after killing 30 horses in just four days