Residents across parts of South Carolina were left startled Thursday evening after a loud boom shook homes and was reportedly heard across a wide stretch of the state.
According to WACH, the mysterious sound was heard and felt throughout the Midlands region around 5:30 p.m., prompting confusion and concern among residents who initially questioned whether an earthquake had occurred.
Viewers told the station they heard the loud boom from areas ranging from North Augusta to Darlington County — locations roughly 145 miles apart.
The United States Geological Survey later clarified that the event was not an earthquake.
In an official notice, the USGS identified the incident as a “Magnitude 0.0 Sonic Boom” located about 6 kilometers north-northeast of Saint Andrews, South Carolina. The event was recorded at 21:24:30 UTC on May 28, 2026.
“This event is not an earthquake,” the agency stated.
USGS explained that the recorded waves and eyewitness reports were “consistent with a sonic boom” rather than seismic activity caused by movement within the Earth.
“Because earthquake magnitude scales are calibrated for seismic waves that travel through the Earth, our standard magnitude calculation methods do not apply to sonic booms,” the agency added.
As a result, officials manually assigned the incident a magnitude of 0.0.
Sonic booms are typically caused when aircraft travel faster than the speed of sound, creating shock waves that can be heard and felt on the ground. However, no additional details were immediately released regarding what may have triggered the boom heard across South Carolina.
The unusual event quickly drew attention online as residents shared reactions and attempted to determine the source of the loud noise that rattled parts of the state Thursday evening.
