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Yes, you did actually hear that.

As temperatures plunged to Antarctic levels across the region Wednesday, social media lit up with reports of loud outdoor booms, cracks and bangs.

They’re called ice quakes, or frost quakes. Or cryoseisms, if you want to get technical about it.

These peculiar events are occurring because the weather is causing the ground to explode. Sort of.

“Basically, it’s so cold outside right now that you’ve got some moisture below the surface that’s starting to freeze,” said meteorologist Ben Deubelbeiss of the National Weather Service.

“When the water freezes, it starts to expand and it’ll move the soil, subsoil, rocks and everything around it. That’ll create these little miniature quakes.”

That’s right. Miniature quakes.

Cryoseisms are weird events but not something the weather service keeps detailed statistics on. Just add them to a list of winter oddities that pop up in a city where frozen train tracks are lit ablaze to keep things moving.

“The cracking of any frozen soil underground is what makes that popping sound that people hear,” Deubelbeiss said.

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