New Jersey rocked by sonic booms

by Jesse Byrnes - 01/28/16 4:15 PM ET

Multiple sonic booms rocked part of southern New Jersey on Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, with tremors leaving people in the area thinking there might be an earthquake.

The cause of the initial boom wasn’t immediately clear, but USGS said that it stemmed from 2 miles north of Hammonton, N.J., and was followed by at least nine more over the course of an hour and a half from southern New Jersey to Long Island, N.Y.

{mosads}The area has long experienced small earthquakes, according to the survey, and reports emerged on Twitter on Thursday afternoon of people feeling the shaking.

Since many have asked: A sonic boom travels through the air w/ the airplane so it arrives at different ground locations at different times.

— USGS (@USGS) January 28, 2016

Authorities in South Jersey were reportedly working to determine the cause of the boom, which left law enforcement fielding inquiries about the tremors.

The National Weather Service’s office in Mount Holly, N.J., posted on Twitter that it had confirmed that it was not an earthquake that hit the area but a sonic boom.

Tags New Jersey