A series of sonic booms that rattled part of the Eastern seaboard Thursday afternoon -- felt from southern New Jersey to Long Island -- was likely caused by Naval aircraft testing in the area, the Navy said. 
 
 The Naval Test Wing Atlantic, based out of the Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Md., was conducting routine flight testing in the Atlantic Test Ranges this afternoon "that included activities which may have resulted in sonic booms," the Navy said in a statement. Other military aircraft, including both the Navy and Air Force, frequently use the ranges for testing and training. 
 
 "The test wing is critical to the safe test and evaluation of all types of Navy and Marine Corps aircraft in service and in development," the Navy said. 
 
 A single-engine F-35C fighter jet from the Naval Air Station in Maryland was conducting supersonic testing in a cleared military flight area off the east coast earlier today, accompanied by an F/A-18 fighter jet, the military said. 
 
 Military aircraft routinely conduct supersonic flights offshore in an area called the Test Track, which parallels the entire coast of the Delmarva Peninsula near Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Test aircraft from the naval air station executes supersonic flights almost daily, and most of the sonic booms are never heard on the ground, according to the Navy. 
 
 "As with all flight operations, the Navy takes precautions to lessen the impact of testing and training activities on the community," the military said in a statement. 
 
 Certain weather conditions increased potential to hear the sonic boom, according to the Navy. 
 
 Some initially believed that it was an earthquake. 
 
 Not an earthquake but a sonic boom in New Jersey: https://t.co/eUr4sB28Wm pic.twitter.com/TQFlkGr633 — USGS (@USGS) January 28, 2016 
 
 Earthquake confirmed in Hammonton New Jersey. No injuries reported. — Ocean County Sheriff (@OceanCounty911) January 28, 2016 
 
 The boom was centered north of Hammontown, NJ, around 1:30 p.m. It was the first of nine booms reported in southern New Jersey and along the Eastern Seaboard to Long Island, New York in the hours following the initial boom, the USGS said. 
 
 The National Weather Service in Mount Holly said it contacted researchers at Columbia University who confirmed that the trembling was not an earthquake. 
 
 We contacted Lamont Doherty Observatory @ Columbia University who confirmed that it was not an earthquake & likely result of a sonic boom. — NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) January 28, 2016 
 
 A sonic boom is the thunder-like noise a person hears when an airplane, travels faster than the speed of sound. The boom travels through the air with the plane, so it arrives at different ground locations at different times, the USGS said. 
 
 Since many have asked: A sonic boom travels through the air w/ the airplane so it arrives at different ground locations at different times. — USGS (@USGS) January 28, 2016 
 
 A military facility in Trenton, the Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, said it doesn't house any aircraft capable of supersonic flights. The base also said it wasn't conducting any ground artillery training. 
 
 "It wasn't us," a spokesperson for the Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst said. 
 
 The 177th Air National Guard, which flies F-16 jets, also they were not conducting any flights in the region. 
 
 The Federal Aviation Administration and the North American Aerospace Defense Command confirmed to ABC News that there were no planes – commercial or military – operating in the area that could have caused a sonic boom. ||||| TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Sonic booms heard and felt along the eastern shoreline were caused by military fighter jets conducting tests, officials said. 
 
 An F-35C, which has a top speed of nearly 1,200 mph, and an F-18 from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland were conducting supersonic testing off the coast Thursday afternoon, according to a Navy spokeswoman. 
 
 Residents reported hearing loud booms and feeling the ground and buildings shake from New Jersey to Long Island. The booms were heard as far away as Connecticut. 
 
 Navy spokeswoman Connie Hempel said supersonic tests flights are done almost daily in the same area but that most sonic booms aren't felt on land. They are conducted offshore in an area called the Test Track, parallel to the coast of the Delmarva Peninsula which is occupied by Delaware, Maryland and Viriginia. 
 
 Certain atmospheric conditions can increase the chance of hearing the booms. 
 
 Thursday's tests were done around 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. 
 
 A geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey said there were nine total booms. Bruce Presgrave said recordings show they occurred over the span of 90 minutes. 
 
 The Department of Defense employs a hotline for noise disturbances for the Naval Air Station in Patuxent River. Questions can be referred to 866-819-9028. ||||| The mystery of the shaking at the shore revealed. NBC 10's George Spencer explains what caused the sonic boom and how it caused panic for some. (Published Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016) 
 
 Naval tests with fancy jets were likely responsible for shaking homes up and down the New Jersey Coast multiple times Thursday afternoon leading to police begging people to stop calling 911 as they awaited word on what caused the tremors.What Shook Parts of New Jersey? Residents around the Garden State reported hearing a loud boom and then shaking Thursday afternoon. NBC10's Cydney Long has the details. (Published Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016) 
 
 NBC10 Philadelphia’s own Ted Greenberg was one of the many people in Atlantic County and other New Jersey counties who felt something around 1:30 p.m. 
 
 There were fears of an earthquake and Hamilton Township Police reported that they received numerous calls about the shaking and asked people to only call 911 if they had an actual emergency. 
 
 Eventually, the National Weather Service in Mount Holly reported the incidents to be caused by a sonic boom. 
 
 Dr. Mitchell Gold at Columbia's Lamont Doherty Cooperative Seismographic Network told NBC New York that it didn't look seismic based on the seismographs and also leaned toward a sonic boom being the culprit for the shaking. 
 
 A few minutes later, the U.S. Geological Survey centered the shaking near Trenton Road (U.S. Route 206) in Hammonton, Atlantic County -- not far from tiny Hammonton Municipal Airport -- at 1:24 p.m. and called it a "probable sonic boom" that caused shaking over a series of time. 
 
 Officials from the Navy said the sonic booms were caused by military fighter jets conducting tests around 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. 
 
 An F-35C, which has a top speed of nearly 1,200 mph, and an F-18 from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland were conducting supersonic testing off the coast Thursday afternoon, according to a Navy spokeswoman. 
 
 Navy spokeswoman Connie Hempel said supersonic tests flights are done almost daily in the same area but that most sonic booms aren't felt on land. They are conducted offshore in an area called the Test Track, parallel to the coast of the Delmarva Peninsula which is occupied by Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. 
 
 
 
 Certain atmospheric conditions can increase the chance of hearing the booms. 
 
 Residents in Margate and Egg Harbor reported feeling the shaking -- as did people as far away as Leesburg in Cumberland County; Lakewood, Ocean County; and even Amityville on Long Island. 
 
 Different shakes kept being felt on and off, said people in various towns. Greenberg reported feeling more rattling around 2, 2:15 and 2:25 p.m. 
 
 The booms were heard as far away as Connecticut. 
 
 Police in Barnegat Township, Ocean County blamed a crack in the Sheetrock of a home on Susan Drive on rattling. There weren't any other reports of damage and no reports of injuries. 
 
 Toms River, Ocean County, police also asked that people not call 911 and said they had received various reports of "earthquake-type-feel" shaking around 2:20 p.m. 
 
 "It almost sounded like an airplane was coming and then the whole house was shaking," said Angel Itri, who was house and babysitting along Pomona Road in Galloway, Atlantic County at the time. "We heard something like a boom or like a swishing sound and then the whole house, the windows were shaking." 
 
 Itri and her friend felt that boom twice in about 10 minutes then another eight times after that. 
 
 A geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey said there were nine total booms. Bruce Presgrave said recordings show they occurred over the span of 90 minutes. 
 
 "A sonic boom is the thunder-like noise a person on the ground hears when an aircraft or other type of aerospace vehicle flies overhead faster than the speed of sound or supersonic," explains NASA. "Air reacts like a fluid to supersonic objects. As objects travel through the air, the air molecules are pushed aside with great force and this forms a shock wave much like a boat creates a bow wave. The bigger and heavier the aircraft, the more air it displaces." Top News Photos of the Week 
 
 There were no reports of planned military training Thursday and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst says they had nothing going on Thursday. And Dover Air Force Base in Delaware said it has no aircraft capable of producing a sonic boom and had no planes flying in the area Thursday. 
 
 After a sonic boom in South Carolina Wednesday, College of Charleston Department of Geology associate professor Dr. Erin Beutel said sonic booms "are perceived by the people on the ground differently under different atmospheric conditions. 
 
 "It can also take between 2-60 seconds after the plane passes through for the boom to be heard, and over the ocean, the pressure wave can travel further and be heard by more people than on land," said Beutel. 
 
 Besides sonic booms and quakes, other things such as big trucks, military exercises and noisy machinery have also been known to cause shaking. 
 
 The Department of Defense employs a hotline for noise disturbances for the Naval Air Station in Patuxent River. Questions can be referred to 866-819-9028. 
 
 Did you feel the shaking? Please share your experience in the comment section. 
 
 Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 Philadelphia
– New Jersey was shaking more than the crowd at a Bruce Springsteen concert Thursday afternoon, ABC News reports. Tremors—initially believed to be an earthquake—shook houses from southern Jersey to Long Island starting around 1:30pm local time. "It almost sounded like an airplane was coming and then the whole house was shaking," an Atlantic County babysitter tells NBC Philadelphia. And police had to ask people to stop calling 911 to report the tremors. According to NJ.com, things didn't settle down for more than an hour. The United States Geological Survey tweeted that the shaking was caused by a sonic boom, not an earthquake. The agency states nine total booms were felt in the region Thursday afternoon, ABC reports. But what caused the sonic booms? Initially, there was plenty of head-scratching, with everyone from NASA to a Delaware military base denying responsibility. But, finally, mystery solved: Military fighter jets were the culprit. A Navy rep confirmed an F-35C (top speed almost 1,200mph) and an F-18 from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland were running supersonic tests over the Atlantic Thursday afternoon. What's wild is that these test flights occur nearly daily in the "Test Track," a region that runs parallel to the coast of parts of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The AP notes that "certain atmospheric conditions can increase the chance of hearing the booms."