For Star subscribers: A new analysis by geoscientists at the University of Arizona points to supersonic aircraft as the likely cause of two recent 'mystery booms' heard and felt in Tucson.
Henry Brean Two “mystery booms” rolled into Tucson from the west last month, rattling windows and triggering local seismic equipment in a way that suggests disturbances in the sky, not underground, according to a new analysis by geoscientists at the University of Arizona.
People are also reading… “I’m sure it’s not an earthquake. I think we can rule that out,” said Beck, a professor in the UA’s Department of Geosciences. “I think the cause is in the air, and based on eliminating other sources, it’s probably planes.” Booms travel a long wayA sonic boom is the result of shock waves created by an object moving faster than the speed of sound, or about 750 mph at sea level. The sound heard on the ground is the sudden onset and release of pressure as the shock wave passes.
The sounds could also be coming from jets that are breaking the sound barrier while flying to or from the range, but Beck said she has no evidence to support such speculation. More booms could be on the wayBreaking the sound barrier is prohibited over populated areas, but it does happen occasionally. Under a proposal now undergoing environmental review, the Air Force wants authorization for supersonic speeds down to 5,000 feet above the ground in operations areas that include Tombstone, Bisbee and Douglas and a huge swath of east-central Arizona.
“That didn’t exist more than a few years ago,” Beck said. Five Raspberry Shake devices are now in operation around Tucson, all of them installed within the past two years. Without the publicly available data from those citizen-science instruments, Beck said she and her team would not have been able to determine the direction and speed of the two booms from last month.
The station still recorded tremors on a rotating paper drum before about 1992, when it was upgraded to a fully digital set-up. Star journalist shares memories of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake 1985 Mexico City earthquake News of Tuesday's earthquake in central Mexico also marked the anniversary of the Sept. 19, 1985 quake that hit the nation’s capitol. It was a magnitude 8.1 temblor that killed some 10,000 people, injured many more and left countless people homeless.
All commercial flights into Mexico were canceled. The only way to get to Mexico City from Tucson was to drive four hours to Hermosillo, Sonora and hope to catch a domestic flight. Toppled buildings Others provided food and drink to the new homeless. Their payback: tearful gratitude. Trying to scramble off the 10th floor of a hotel during an earthquake is like trying to sprint on a rowboat.
What awaited them was a bizarre scene where a misty haze, caused by dry ice used to preserve the decaying bodies, drifted around the faces of the men, women and children of all ages who were laid side-by-side.
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