Rare ‘Ice Quake’ Just Rattled Parts of Wisconsin

Just when Wisconsinites thought this winter couldn’t get any weirder, the ground itself decided to join in the seasonal festivities recently to rattle residents of the Dairy State.

We're not alone when it comes to the strange winter of 2024-2025 we've been experiencing here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes; our neighbors to the east in my home state of Wisconsin have also been dealing with the same lack of snow, then bitterly cold weather, as well.

And some residents in America's Dairlyand capital city of Madison were just rattled by another strange winter weather phenomenon as well: an ice quake.

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Just what is an ice quake? According to the science site, Wonderopolis, an ice quake is something that's much more common in Antarctica or Greenland, but they have also been reported in other northern states like Minnesota and Wisconsin. Here's how they define an 'ice quake':

Icequakes happen when water in the ground freezes very quickly. When water freezes, it expands. As groundwater becomes ice, it breaks up the soil and rocks around it, sometimes causing loud noises, as well.

These Wisconsin ice quakes were reported over the weekend when temperatures were well below zero, this WKOW-TV story said. And these quakes involved cracks occurring not in the ground, but in the ice that is currently covering Lake Monona and Lake Mendota, which are located within the city of Madison.

The cracked, shifting ice resulted in several loud booms and tremors that could be heard in and around Wisconsin's capital city. Several posts on various social media sites noted that several residents hadn't heard an ice quake that loud in quite a while, WKOW-TV noted.

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That's likely because this winter's lack of snow made conditions for an ice quake to occur. Usually, snow on area lakes this time of year helps muffle those cracks and tremors that can occur when the temperature drops, the story said.

And while those ice quakes may make an ominous sound, the story said that they're often harmless and don't usually cause the damage we associate with an earthquake. Seeing as our fair state is home to over 10,000 lakes that are now also frozen, ice quakes have likely occurred in parts of Minnesota this season as well, especially since we've had similar recent cold temperatures without any snow. Have you ever heard one?

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