West Islip, Lindenhurst residents report ground-rattling boom

Residents of West Islip and Lindenhurst called police Tuesday evening to report what sounded like a loud explosion, a Suffolk police spokesman said.

“We received multiple reports of a loud noise,” the spokesman said.

“A lot of people heard a boom; we don’t see a fire or anything like that,” he said. “And there is nothing to indicate an explosion.”

In late January, South Shore residents were rattled by a sonic boom, which military officials confirmed was caused by a U.S. Navy stealth fighter jet conducting a test flight.

However, the National Earthquake Center, which monitors seismic events around the world, did not see anything on its monitors to indicate an earthquake or a sonic boom had struck the area on Tuesday, an employee said.

“I don’t see anything that looks like a sonic boom or an earthquake,” she said.

“I’m not ruling out there was one, I’m just not seeing anything,” she added.

Sonic booms can register at close to 200 decibels, making them nearly twice as loud as thunderclaps. They are caused by shock waves produced when an aircraft exceeds the speed of sound.