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Story summary
- Freezing temperatures produced loud booms and brief tremors across northern Tennessee and central Kentucky, due to frost quakes.
- Frost quakes, or cryoseisms, occur when frozen ground cracks from rapid temperature drops, creating pressure that yields loud noises.
- They can rattle windows and crack driveways, but frost quakes are generally harmless and less destructive than earthquakes.
- The phenomenon is most common in cold climates with sharp temperature swings and remains unpredictable.
