Ground-shaking booms puzzle Louisville, TN, USA neighborhood

[Emily]

There's a video at the link. I'm posting this as possibly being from a natural mechanism since so far industrial sources of noise pollution have been ruled out. A couple of article comments from people who live closer to Oak Ridge mentioned that they have heard booming from testing there, but Louisville is further away so nobody seems to be considering that possibility at this time.

http://www.wbir.com/watercooler/article/186055/141/Update-Louisville-mystery-booms-unrelated-to-pipeline

Ground-shaking booms puzzle Louisville neighborhood
11:17 AM, Sep 30, 2011

Update: Friday, 11:00 a.m.
Louisville mystery-booms unrelated to pipeline

Louisville residents searching for the source of an unexplained ground-shaking boom can scratch another theory off the list.....

 

[Vibrant62]

Re: Ground-shaking booms puzzle Louisville, TN, USA neighborhood

Very odd - an explosion or noise with enough energy to shake the ground & houses should have been picked up by seismometers and USGS, and been visible as a tremor...

Is this an area with natural underground caves or caverns?

 

[Emily]

Re: Ground-shaking booms puzzle Louisville, TN, USA neighborhood

The area does have caves in it.

http://www.amazon.com/Caves-Knoxville-Great-Smoky-Mountains/dp/187996130X

I couldn't find anything specific to Louisville, but a cavern system that contains "The Lost Sea" is only 20 miles or so away.

http://www.thelostsea.com/history.html

Apparently saltpeter was mined there and in other caves in the area.