Morristown residents felt the earth shake not once but twice Tuesday, but the U.S. Geological Survey says it was not an earthquake. The cause of what residents say felt like an explosion is a mystery to officials at this point.
Resident Willie Strange had barely made it through the front door from working all day when he felt his home move around four o’clock. “Came in and sat down. Flipped the TV on and all at once, it was a jarring explosion. I thought someone had set off some dynamite charge. I could feel the walls shaking,” said Strange.
He started looking around and noticed cracks in his bedroom walls and molding. Before he could inspect the rest of the house, he felt it again. “I felt like another little explosion right behind that. So then I got outside and I seen the neighbors. Everybody was outside looking around wondering what was going on,” he said.
Strange and his neighbors weren’t the only ones. From one side of Morristown to the other, residents flooded the emergency dispatch center with calls of concern. “It was chaotic. We probably received 80 to 100 calls,” said dispatcher Greg Simmons.
“I tell you what it shook the whole house here. I thought something blew up!” one caller said. After about 20 minutes the calls slowed and things went back to normal around town. That’s when Strange found even more cracks around his home and on the outside as well.
Now he’s left with damage and nowhere to place the blame. Around 10 o’clock, dispatch reported another rumbling. They said they received less calls than the first episode. The Emergency Management Agency says they are investigating the cause. They say there is no major damage to report.