Noted: Clifford Thurber, a seismologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who served as a consultant for the city, is still on the fence. ?I won?t be amazed if it turns out to be earthquakes, but it could also be a near surface event, such as rocks fracturing beneath the surface due to erosion from flowing water.? So far, the booms have only been heard within in a small, cigar-shaped area that encompasses most of Clintonville, Thurber says, suggesting an origin that is close to the surface, a possibility that falls within the uncertainty of the USGS seismic data.
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