Sonic boom, not earthquake: SpaceX Dragon capsule startles Los Angeles, California | Videos

Following what many believed was an earthquake that rocked Los Angeles, social media posts have claimed that it was actually a sonic boom from the SpaceX Dragon capsule. Videos of the Dragon capsule “re-entering” have surfaced on social media.

“Correction: likely not an earthquake in Los Angeles but a sonic boom from this SpaceX Dragon capsule re-entering,” one post said, sharing a video. Another said, “It was a sonic boom. SpaceX Dragon returning to earth.”

Meanwhile, NBC News reported that the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft reentered Earth’s atmosphere around 10:41 pm. In a recent X post, SpaceX wrote, “Dragon is on track to reenter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down off the southern coast of California near Oceanside at ~10:44 p.m. PT”.

‘It shook the whole house’

Shortly before social media posts clarified what really happened, EMSC, anindependent scientific organization, shared on X that an earthquake may have been felt in California. It noted that this was an “automatic crowdsourced detection, not seismically verified yet.”

EMSC later shared more updates, saying in one, “Eyewitnesses reported shaking in #California 3 min ago (local time 22:40:15). At present, we have no seismic data confirming this crowdsourced detection.” Another update from EMSC read, “We have no seismic data confirming this crowdsourced detection at present.”

The EMSC says on its website that it is “an international, non-profit NGO composed of more than 70 member institutes around the world.” It adds, “We operate a system for rapid collection, determination, and dissemination of earthquake parameters using seismic data contributed by seismological institutes together with crowdsourced data from earthquake eyewitnesses.”

On EMSC’s X post, many X users described what the effect of what was initially believed to be an earthquake felt like. “Yes I felt it and it shook the whole house and our big sliding glass door shook really hard,” one user commented, while another shared, “Felt it! Sounded like someone banged on the wall”. “A quick, rattling shake here in Huntington Beach,” one user wrote.

“Felt like someone kicked the bedroom door,” one user wrote, while another commented, “Big, quick jult north of Santa Maria here. Thought something hit our house, no roll.” “Felt and heard it on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Sounded like something hit my garage door,” one said.