Mystery ‘earthquake style tremor’ that shook houses in Greater Manchester had ‘sonic origins’ say experts

Hundreds of people have reported a mystery ‘boom’ that shook their homes today.

The British Geological Survey said it has received numerous reports from residents, mainly in the Lancashire area, but also in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside who reported the tremor sometime around 11am on Tuesday.

Data from BGS seismic networks have been examined and signals consistent with "a possible sonic origin" were recorded at that time.

British Aerospace has confirmed they did have aircraft airborne at the time and two RAF aircraft were on exercise over the Irish Sea. But the RAF has not confirmed at this time if any jets had gone supersonic.

Data from Flight Radar also shows a British Aerospace Hawk T.2 Royal Air Force jet traveling at 12,075 ft over the North West towards Wales at the time.

The huge rumble was felt all over the Fylde Coast, with dozens of reports coming in from Blackpool, Cleveleys, Lytham and St Annes. There were also reports of people feeling it in the Wigan, Liverpool and Formby areas.

A Golborne resident told ManchesterWorld: “It was about 11.05am when there was a loud boom (not a bang!) and the house moved - it felt like the floor was shifting.

“It happened twice, in succession.

“I felt the earthquake we had in 2007 or 2008 and it felt the same, hence why I thought it must've been an earthquake.”

So far, it remains a mystery.

BGS said: “We’ve looked at the data on our seismic stations in the region and there is no evidence of an earthquake, however, we are currently looking at the possibility that there has been a sonic event in the area.

“We have had quite a few reports of an event felt at around 11ish, most reports are from Lancashire but also some from Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

“We’ve been in touch with British Aerospace who have said there were jets in the area, they may have inadvertently gone supersonic but there has been no confirmation yet.”

The Environment Agency, Blackpool Air Traffic Control and the British Geological Survey have been asked for comment.

• A version of this story first appeared on our sister title the Blackpool Gazette.