Just about every news outlet today has a story on the “frost quake” that rocked Ohio and parts of Indiana early this morning. And why not? Spontaneous shaking of the earth caused by ice? Sounds like a recipe for an end-of-days action flick waiting to happen. They would probably cast Nicolas Cage, though, and it would probably suck, but that’s beside the point.
So what exactly is a “frost quake”? It’s a chance to learn a new word today: cryoseism. That’s the expansion and cracking of the ground caused by freezing water. They are usually accompanied by loud noises and can be mistaken for earthquakes, as they were this morning in parts of the Midwest.
This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2011.
