Sunday’s “boom” related to Tuesday’s quake?

A number of people in the Lowcountry called News 2 to tell us about “a boom” they heard early Sunday afternoon.

Most of them live along the coast.

There is something known as the Seneca Guns.

It’s the theory that there are cracks in the ocean floor and when gas escapes from those cracks, it causes a boom.

Nobody knows for sure if that’s what happened.

However, a James Island woman insisted to News 2 that she felt an earthquake because her house shook.

So we asked a College of Charleston geology professor if the boom could be related to Tuesday’s earthquake.

Steven Jaume, an assistant geology professor at the College of Charleston, told News 2 that he doesn’t believe the two were connected.

“Generally you hear something,“ said Jaume, “you’re talking about a sonic boom.  So it’s something in the atmosphere.  It would not be connected to an earthquake.  The big difference obviously is with an earthquake you feel them then you may hear things rattling.  You generally don’t hear the earthquake.  A sonic boom is something caused through the air.  People will hear them very clearly and their wave may actually rattle the house.  I wouldn’t find any connection (to an earthquake).“