Around 5 p.m. Tuesday evening, a boom shook parts of San Diego County. Residents in Golden Hill, Del Cerro and San Carlos confirmed they felt shaking, while others heard a loud boom. Twitter users around the county questioned the mysterious event, wondering if it was an earthquake.
Replying to Sunnyhaze2006, U.S. Geological Survey, which tracks seismic incidents, confirmed at 6:31 p.m. that it wasn’t an earthquake but possibly a sonic boom. Although it couldn’t provide much other information, the agency encouraged users to file an unknown event report on their website.
There was no earthquake recorded in San Diego today, but it may have been a sonic boom which are not too uncommon there. You can still report an "unknown event" on our DYFI page, which may list widely reported sonic booms https://t.co/jkZwVBcvNi -?
— USGS Earthquakes (@USGS_Quakes) February 17, 2021
Sonic booms are created when an object, like an aircraft, travels through the air faster than the speed of sound, creating a thunder-like noise.
Previous sonic booms have been reported in San Diego County with one in June 2012 likely caused by aircrafts associated with the U.S. Naval Air Force.
This is a developing story and we’ll add more information as it becomes available.
