Theories abound on city's big bang: Vancouver residents report mysterious, very loud, sound

VANCOUVER, Wash. — What was that?

Much of Vancouver got an ear-splitting wakeup call Friday morning. Was it an explosion? A volcanic eruption? A thunderclap?

No one had an definitive explanation, despite many theories about the big bang that shook Vancouver shortly after 6 a.m.

Shelly Jensen, who lives near Royal Oaks Country Club in north-central Vancouver, said she was just dozing off again after her husband left for work.

"I heard a loud boom, then the bed shook and the windows and doors rattled in the house," she said in an e-mail. "I thought for a minute I was dreaming, but then thought, 'No, maybe it was an earthquake.' I looked right at the clock and saw 6:01. Whatever it was it sounded very strong."

On the west side of town several miles away, in the Lincoln neighborhood, Nelson Holmberg said he was in the shower getting ready for work.

"It just sounded like something fell over in the house," he said. "I thought one of my dogs jumped on the table."

A dispatcher inside the 911 center in downtown Vancouver heard it, but said the center fielded no reports of problems related to the loud boom. Vancouver fire spokesman Bill Garlington said the noise didn't stir firefighters into action.

"No, to give you the short answer," Garlington said.

If there was a longer answer, he didn't hint at it.

There was no word from the military-industrial complex, either.

Sgt. Greg Neuleib, a public affairs specialist with the Oregon Air National Guard, said Portland-based fighter jets were ground-bound until midmorning. Meanwhile, many of the region's National Guard troops were training in California.

"It's a puzzle," said Kay Fristad, a National Guard spokeswoman in Salem.

Holmberg, a spokesman for the Port of Vancouver, said nothing would have generated a sound that loud at the port. Josh Thomas, Holmberg's counterpart across the Columbia River, said all was quiet at the Port of Portland at daybreak Friday.

"A container wouldn't make that much noise, even if it was dropped on asphalt," Thomas said.

Other possible explanations similarly fizzled.

A thunderclap?

"We did have a weather front move through the area in the early-morning hours," said Tyree Wilde, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Portland. "But there were no lightning strikes at all in the area."

An earthquake?

Cynthia Gardner, scientist in charge of the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory, said seismic monitors registered nothing out of the ordinary.

There wasn't a peep out of Mount St. Helens.

Manmade blasting?

Area transportation workers reported no activity in Southwest Washington.