Shake rattle and roll-series of booms rattles residents

Residents in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, as far away as Houston, Big Lake, and Willow heard and felt what were described as ‘booms’ this morning. Many on social media thought it was a series of small earthquakes, military operations, or possibly eruptions from Mount Spurr.

While there were two minor earthquakes north of Hatcher Pass and northeast of Sutton, they registered just above magnitude 2.2. And while there has been continuous seismic activity at Mount Spurr, there was no noted activity from the volcano.

After reaching out to Public Affairs at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), it appears that the booms were due to a series of detonations from the base.

“The 673d Civil Engineer Squadron’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight completed five detonations at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, today between 9:45 and 11:30 a.m. to destroy explosive hazards in a controlled environment,” wrote Erin Eaton, JBER and 673d Air Base Wing Public Affairs Specialist in an email.