In addition to hearing these noises from nearby bodies of water, local residents could hear water within pipes or roofs expanding quickly with similar noses occurring on area walls and roods. This can happen anywhere where material can be saturated that has to release that freezing pressures.' He says, 'You will see them happen over bodies of water, where you will see infiltration of water into soils and rocks and sometimes concrete. in DeKalb says that this phenomena is not unheard of, but there are many things that need to happen in order for them to occur. Jonathan Lageman, Supervisory Hydrologist at the U.S.G.S.

That is the 'boom' or 'crack' residents may have heard outside of their homes, the 'quake' component of the ice quake. In many cases across the region, the water puts so much pressure on its surroundings that the soil or rock then cracks suddenly. Most of the time, it can put stress on rock or soil. Combined with these frigid temperatures, that water then expands and adds stress on its surroundings. This event occurs when water seeps into the ground and freezes. The loud sounds were actually caused by a natural phenomenon known as 'cryoseism,' also known as an 'ice quake' or 'frost quake.'

The same story is expected to happen tonight in spots with the sub-zero temperatures continuing. Many residents across the Stateline wrote to the 23 Storm Team about how they were awakened by loud sounds last night.

Ice quake sound