Sonic Booms, Not Quake, Suspected in Series of Jolts
Residents from Long Beach to San Clemente reported a series of window-rattling jolts Saturday afternoon, but authorities said the shaking was probably caused by sonic booms and not an earthquake.
Robert Finn, a spokesman at Caltech, said that no seismic activity was recorded in the area, and theorized that the jolts resulted from sonic booms or Naval gunfire.
A spokesman for the Naval Station at Long Beach said it was possible that ships were conducting bombing exercises near San Clemente Island and this could have caused the rattling about 2 p.m.
Police and fire authorities received several calls from residents concerned about the jolts, but no reports of damages, Lt. Bob Rivas of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said.
Border Patrol Agent Howard Schroeder said that the windows in his San Clemente office “rattled real bad” but that the jolts did not resemble those of an earthquake.
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