Mysterious booms in Kansas City could be 'frost quakes'

We've heard of snowpocalypse but this is a new one to us: 'Frost quake.'

That was amateur video from Kansas City, Missouri. Those sounds have reportedly been going on for the last few months.

"To me it sounded like it was a fairly substantial Class B firework. Which is a lot bigger than what you sell at a fireworks stand."

Local station KSHB has been digging into the source of the booms -- even checking to see if a local air force base was running test operations -- all to no avail. A popular theory now? 'Frost quakes.'

Also known as a 'cryoseism,' Accuweather describes them as "a natural phenomenon caused from a sudden deep freezing of the ground," which then causes the ground to crack, creating the noise.

Milwaukee's WISN demonstrated the process using a glass bottle full of water: "We're going to wait for it to freeze, and when it does this bottle will crack. And that's exactly what goes on below ground during a frost quake."

For the record, frost quakes are not like the earthquakes you're more familiar with, so don't expect any dangerous seismic activity. They're reportedly most common in the coldest part of the night, between midnight and dawn.

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