Boom over the Tri-Cities - Jun 21, 2026, 11:04 PM
Sunday, June 21, 2026 at 11:04 PM · 3 months ago
The red marker is our best guess at the source; the blue dots are where people were. This combines two independent clues: the 7 directions people pointed, and how loud it was where each person stood (a boom is loudest nearest its source). The marker sits where those two agree - which is why it's more trustworthy than either alone. Adding more directions or loudness reports sharpens it.
Collecting reports
Reports are still coming in. We compare every boom against seismic records, 911 dispatch activity, weather and known local sources. If we can pin down what it was, this is where it will appear.
More reports make this far more likely, especially from different directions.
What it lines up with
Automatic cross-references. Suggestive, not proof.
Thayer Drive Substation (substation) - about 0.8 km from the estimated origin.
A USGS M1.7 earthquake 40 km away, 39h apart.
Conditions weren’t especially sound-carrying. (20°C, wind 9 km/h, 0% cloud)
night on a weekend.
First quarter (46% lit).
Transformer and substation faults set off both a boom and an outage. See who else nearby is out, and when it is coming back.
isthepowerout.comWhat people reported
Each number matches a dot on the map above.
Super loud boom. Probably fireworks, but it sounded so much louder!
Single loud boom. It wasn't very loud to me because I was in my house. Hard to say just how loud it was without being outside.
It sounded like someone dragging their garbage can up the street, or metal scraping on metal, but only for a second.
What do you think it was?
Cast your vote. The data’s nearest match: substation - Thayer Drive Substation.
Discussion
Saw the same thing? Have a theory or evidence about what it was? Weigh in.