Boom over the Tri-Cities - Nov 2, 2026, 2:25 PM
Monday, November 2, 2026 at 2:43 PM · 5 days ago
The red marker is our best guess at the source; the blue dots are where people were. Estimated from how strong it felt across the area - loudest closest to the source. There aren't enough direction arrows yet, so this leans on the loudness pattern alone. A few people reporting which way it came from would sharpen it a lot.
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.
Richland Sub Station (substation) - about 7.5 km from the estimated origin.
A USGS M0.56 earthquake 113 km away, 15h apart.
Conditions weren’t especially sound-carrying. (11°C, wind 8 km/h, 31% cloud)
afternoon on a weekday.
Last 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.
Heard 7 more thuds again. What is this?
Heard 5 more thuds/booms in more rapid succession just now.
I’ve heard 4 thuds with a secondary bounce in the last 10 minutes (2:25pm to 2:35 pm). This shakes the whole house and startles me.
Thud with secondary bounce like a piledriver.
What do you think it was?
Cast your vote. The data’s nearest match: substation - Richland Sub Station.
Discussion
Saw the same thing? Have a theory or evidence about what it was? Weigh in.