I have opened up some extensive real time seismic monitoring in Wisconsin- For the rumbles

Up to this point, since geologists have mostly said they weren't picking up anything on seismic stations in regards to the strange rumbles, booms, and shaking- I had pretty much not been interested in pursuing seismic monitoring in Wisconsin.

Some new information posted at the RSOE website however, indicated that a geologist HAD picked up some unusual signals on a seismic station:

Steve Dutch, a geologist at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, said the ground beneath them is solid, and that there are no known earthquake fault lines in the area. Dutch said he heard some people worrying that a sinkhole might open up and swallow homes. That can happen in areas where the ground is rich with limestone and other low-density rocks that can be dissolved by water, he said. But the rock below Clintonville is mainly solid granite that's largely impermeable. However, he speculated that water and granite could hold the key to the mystery. Granite has small cracks that water can fill, but if the underground water table falls especially low, water can seep out, leaving gaps that cause the rocks to settle and generate loud noises. "Maybe the very dry winter caused more water to be removed from the water table, either through pumping or natural flow," he said. A seismic station near Clintonville, a town of about 4,600 people about 40 miles west of Green Bay, has recorded unusual ground shaking since Sunday night. Scientists say such activity can be caused by mining and heavy truck traffic, but since there are no mines or major construction in the area, the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey will take a closer look at the data.

hisz.rsoe.hu...

So since I have quite a tool to do this with, which includes real time streaming spectrographs, in addition to the regular waveform data, and I also have a fair amount of knowledge with seismic networks, I figured what the heck.

So right now I am sitting here looking at about 25 open stations in Wisconsin, which easily cover the Clintonville and other areas. If it is powerful enough to shake the ground with any kind of meaningful propagation to within about 30 km or more, chances are I will see it if I am in front of my computer.

I just started this, and already believe I spotted a small quake west of the Lake. Nothing much more to report yet than that, but I will update this thread as I see more.

I posted this in another thread some hours ago.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Lazy copy and paste
I have a theory about the booming sounds around the US.

Groundwater overextraction, could be the reason for the sounds, as more water is pumped out of the ground and not replenished fast enough, the rock below is starting to dry out and colapse from the missing water preasure.

In the end the land will start to sink.

water.usgs.gov...

Land subsidence is a gradual settling or sudden sinking of the Earth's surface owing to subsurface movement of earth materials. Subsidence is a global problem and, in the United States, more than 17,000 square miles in 45 States, an area roughly the size of New Hampshire and Vermont combined, have been directly affected by subsidence. The principal causes are aquifer-system compaction, drainage of organic soils, underground mining, hydrocompaction, natural compaction, sinkholes, and thawing permafrost (National Research Council, 1991). Three distinct processes account for most of the water-related subsidence--compaction of aquifer systems, drainage and subsequent oxidation of organic soils, and dissolution and collapse of susceptible rocks.

Long shot, but a realistic one.

reply to post by TrueAmerican

Thank you TA!!! I'm very interested in this and I'm glad you're taking a look at it. Terrible that the connection is down. ~ reading that made my tinfoil hate itch ~

There was a similar unexplained "booms & shakes" incident outside of Knoxville, TN last fall. That neighborhood was located along the Tennessee River. When I saw that there was lakes & waterways in these towns in Wisconsin I wondered if that had anything to do with what was happening.

Thanks again and I'm gonna keep a check on this thread for updates.

OiO

Is it me or did USGS just put a tiny quake dot on the Wisconsin map? It says 3/20 but I swear it wasn't there this morning.

EDIT: and no sooner than I started this, it appears that the entire IRIS DMC is down for the moment, kaput- poof- gone. *sigh*.

Haha, but I have already specified my stations, and saved my mess. So when it comes back, I will resume.


And for the more technically involved, it is the EventDC connection that went and is currently down, at least to me. If anyone can still connect, please say.


EDIT again: I cut that out of the OP so that it will not persist in the OP, as it will soon be fixed. This happens occasionally at IRIS. Goes with the territory, and there's not a whole lot we can do until it is fixed. And hopefully, today!!! If not, sorry, but running blind here. I'll update next when IRIS problem is fixed.

IDMC came back for a few minutes, but went back out and still has not come back.

Not only does this stop a lot of public and scientists from viewing real time data at Wisconsin, but it shuts off a lot of the rest of the world networks which report to IRIS as well. In other words, yeah, it's a pretty bad problem. Right now anything sourced through IRIS for real time data is not going to work. Not unless you can get on an internal IRIS server mirror... And I imagine those are not so public...

As to Wisconsin, since they detected a 1.5 there in Clintonville on Tuesday:
earthquake.usgs.gov...

and I think I saw one south of there today not reported on yet...

...This may be one of those special cases where microquake activity is being felt and heard, because the underlying granite bedrock is so old and highly dense. I would venture to guess that seismic wave speeds and distance propagation are both some of the highest anywhere there. This means that even tiny quakes and activity can possibly be felt, because it can travel so fast and far, and with such little attenuation. That quake was a depth of only 5 km, so quite shallow. Add that into the mix too, and yes it is possible, if you are very close to epicenter.

EDIT: Aha. Might be back in business here. Yep. Let's see if it holds...


And: Clintonville booms likely caused by 'swarm of microquakes,' says USGS
www.thenorthwestern.com...|head

That's probably the best explanation yet, and once they sift through the data they might find a few more bumps. At the moment, things seem pretty quiet.


City managers were probably told the quakes are hard to be detected because they don't have any seismic stations close enough in, and that's why the city is renting the equipment.

I'm not well versed in quake info, so I'm a little curious as to what effect having a large body of water nearby would have on what is felt, if any. Whether that much nearby water might muffle, amplify, or no effect any shaking or no effect at all on what could be picked up some miles away. Interesting info op!

flaggin this....I have been wondering. Thanks for monitoring it and keeping us up to speed. How odd that they at first say "naw...nothing to see here" and then change their opinion. Based on what? I don't think they have any new info available to them now than they wouldn't have in the begining. Not calling conspiracy, but I find it odd.

Ok, well if those booms started again around 8 pm EST, (00:00 UTC 3/23/12), I did see some things that might be it. But at first glance, might appear to be road noise or other manmade stuff, because of the lack of propagation to other stations.

If we are dealing with a situation though where the tiny quakes below 1.5 are mostly not registering at the outlying stations, then it is possible those quakes are being missed. So good idea to get closer in stations, to pick up more of it.

So the question is- why are there microquakes? New fault? Magma movement? Hydrothermal movement? They'll figure it out as soon as they can get some eyes on close in data, do wave inversions back to epicenter, and start defining rupture mechanisms. And they MIGHT want to look into some GPS to monitor ground deformation too, after they track down the epicenters and hypocenters, just in case a nasty ancient volcano is coming back to life. I've read that some magma bodies can reactivate in very little time if enough magma under enough pressure rises fast enough, and causes melt much faster than previously thought....Chances of that are pretty slim, but you never know.

But take comfort friends in Wisconsin. Micro quake swarms are known to happen in odd places. It's just part of the geologic deal. It will bug you for a month or two maybe, then probably disappear for a long time.

Here is a link for you. USG declared a small earthquake and said that this is what is causing the booming heard in that Wisconsin town. The article called it a micro-quake. Hope this helps here.




hosted.ap.org...

Originally posted by AuntB
Is it me or did USGS just put a tiny quake dot on the Wisconsin map? It says 3/20 but I swear it wasn't there this morning.

No, it is not just you! I check the USGS site, on average, about twice a day. I did NOT see that until this morning and it definitely was not there the 20th, like the site says. Why I found it interesting, is that last night on KDVR Fox News Denver, they mentioned the booms and they specifically said that all causes had been ruled out, including quakes. So, to see this there today, it made me chuckle because it seemed that they quietly found the "cause" of the shaking/sounds.

Just another case of the USGS playing chicken with its maps!

reply to post by TrueAmerican


I lived in OR for several years. I was within yards of the ocean and had a amazing view. One night after living there a short time, I heard a low rumbling. I heard it several nights in a row. So I finally asked if whale song could be heard over the water (as this was my only logical solution) there was no heavy industry that would account for such sound.

I was laughed at. I've heard it for a long time, off and on. With more volume and freguency lately. It gives me chills.

Originally posted by mountaingirl1111
Why I found it interesting, is that last night on KDVR Fox News Denver, they mentioned the booms and they specifically said that all causes had been ruled out, including quakes.

Yeah, but that was until more scientists started combing over seismic data that probably otherwise doesn't get much if any looks at all- when someone found the 1.5. I mean nothing against Clintonville, but is isn't exactly Japan when it comes to seismicity! They had to take some time to figure it out, while the city was getting impatient call after impatient call. And at first glance, a quake that small could be easily missed among manmade signatures. That would explain the first conclusions, ruling out quakes.

And if it wasn't a quake, why would the city be advised to rent a portable seismic array?

They were advised to do that no doubt because the quake was probably initially spotted, and then reviewed some more, and a conclusion reached that a quake it was. And then immediately they saw the propagation problem, and suspected it could be real small, and localized , and thus the solution to be sure is to bring in some portables to verify it, and pickup more of the even smaller stuff. So that's what they are doing. This may have nothing to do at all with the sky sounds, if that's what anyone is thinking.

HI i live in sheboygan wisconsin and i havent noticed anything unusual around hear but if anything does ill let you know.

My thought is this problem is part of a much larger issue, that's happening around the globe. I mean sure some of the sky sounds and booms were debunked, but this part of a bigger pattern of things that are unfolding faster than scientists realize & have the time to thoroughly study, so officials at this point I believe are grasping at straws to make people happy. The equivalent of putting a band aid on a 200x100 foot sinkhole. The next 9 to 12 months are going to be very interesting indeed.

What's interesting is that:

A.) A 1.5 cannot be felt at the surface by most any people and it surely doesn't topple barns and shake homes; once you get into the 3's and 4's is when you feel them slightly. We have 4's and even 5's here in central Texas and those will sometimes get your attention if it's quiet and you aren't doing anything that's distracting you or driving.

B.) You guys in Wisconsin are dead center of the Canadian Shield...there should be NO movement as that area has been wet, dry, cold, hot, over and over for centuries since the last ice age. I could see granite slippage being a root cause if you were close to the great lakes and they were extremely low in volume (like less than 66.6%), but what's going on there, if they are indeed microquakes...are not being caused by granite slippage.

Do we have a topographical map of the area showing the nearest minor fault lines? Surface propagation through hard graite from the epicenter means something near the surface from a loooong way away could cause it; however it would still be so spread out, no one would feel it in a specific area like they did in Clintonvile. Furthermore, if the focus was 5km, while being quite shallow, that doesn't rule out magma creep from a dike or sill from a newly forming super deep hot spot...but this ofcourse would be something almost entirely new to science; the creation of a new, never before, volcano.

Originally posted by Xterrain
What's interesting is that:

A.) A 1.5 cannot be felt at the surface by most any people and it surely doesn't topple barns and shake homes; once you get into the 3's and 4's is when you feel them slightly. We have 4's and even 5's here in central Texas and those will sometimes get your attention if it's quiet and you aren't doing anything that's distracting you or driving.

Exactly. I don't doubt you can find some 1's almost anywhere you actually start to look, but booms and people thinking their door was being pounded on? No way. Not from some tiny little quake like that. If that were true, booms and rattles would be the most American things since apple pie. It would be everywhere, all the time. What's different about this set of quakes as opposed to all the other 1.5 "swarms" everywhere else? Should barns everywhere be afraid?

research notes:

Isolate locations and events better

Boring machines in operation and sound created when in use:

Tunnels and machines: Check images
Search About 1,280,000 results

www.google.com...
www.google.com...

Questioning if underground boring equipment could be the cause or root...
Noticed mention of granite, better than limestone for bunker and tunnels imho...
How many machines are in use today is equally to how many there are made...
hypothesis being, too expensive not to be working and in operation 24/7
Or at least as much as possible, and notice noise started at 8:00


Fracking Zones:

Maps: www.google.com...

view images and see if overlay of fracking zones are related...


caverns and canyons..

"Gasland" movie on fracking worth watching

reply to post by TrueAmerican

They have updated the "story" in your link:

hisz.rsoe.hu...

"To be honest, I'm skeptical that there'd be a sound report associated with such a small earthquake, but it's possible," he said.
---
Local residents have reported late-night disturbances since Sunday, including a shaking ground and loud booms that sound like thunder or fireworks.
---
Steve Dutch, a geologist at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, said a 1.5 magnitude earthquake produces the energy equivalent of 100 pounds of explosives and could produce loud sounds.

Having some background with explosives I can see "hints" that lead me to conclude there might be some "blasting" going on. "Shots" are usually set off at night. Explosive "sets" or "trains" might involve a series of small blasts spaced moments apart. This would account for the "firework" sounds (bump bumpa thump). In mining or tunnel excavation the charges are spaced so that the overall shock is lessened. A lot of little bangs instead of one big one. Over the space of several nights also lends to blasting as they must rake out the muck of each shot before drilling, setting and shooting the next one. One or two a night is about par for tunneling.

Blasting at night is not that secretive like some may think. It just lessens the impact on nearby residents (somewhat) and hides any smoke that may rise giving the location. The nearest people to the site my hear short blasts (usually three) on a horn or one wail on a siren just prior to initiation.

I am not sleeping there and don't really have any other than the "news" for review. Just going by what the residents "report". I think that if the ground rolls a little then they hear a boom or booms that would also be telling. "Noise" associated with even small earthquakes is from things rattling around when the ground swell hits. Usually not from the quake itself. I am not sure what they mean about quake "booming noises". Quakes rumble, they don't boom.

reply to post by Xterrain

A 1.5 cannot be felt at the surface by most any people...

A 1.5 is just at the threshold of people's awareness, especially if they are lying in bed. The reports state the occurrences are late night so...

Busy freeways run about 1.5 out to 150 feet or so. I know, I live in that zone and I have become used to the slight movement under my mattress, especially when semi trucks pass by.