Has your home been making strange sound in the middle of the night? The jarring frost quakes have people around New England asking, "What was that?"Watch the reportA panicked Sandra Tilden, of Framingham, began to search her attic for the source of a series of loud thuds that woke her up overnight."It sounded like somebody dropped a wrecking ball on my roof," she said. "Then it happened three or four more times."She's not alone.More than 1,000 people posted on the NewsCenter 5 Facebook page to report hearing the loud noises and were glad that there was some sort of explanation as to where the sounds were coming from.Experts call the noises thermal expansion and contraction. That means the components in your home are shrinking and expanding with extreme temperature changes, especially with the sub-zero temperatures so many of us have been experiencing recently."There's motion because the outside temperature is different from the temperature inside of your house, so these differentials could cause movement in a different direction and could create that noise," Wentworth Institute of Technology professor Garrick Goldenberg said.And when materials are tightly secured with nails or fasteners, and the pressure becomes too great, the energy may be released suddenly and cause a loud noise.And as unsettling and nerve-wracking as they sound, it's not usually a sign of danger."Normally a well-built house should be able to handle it," Goldenberg said.

Has your home been making strange sound in the middle of the night? The jarring frost quakes have people around New England asking, "What was that?"

Watch the report


A panicked Sandra Tilden, of Framingham, began to search her attic for the source of a series of loud thuds that woke her up overnight.

"It sounded like somebody dropped a wrecking ball on my roof," she said. "Then it happened three or four more times."

She's not alone.

More than 1,000 people posted on the NewsCenter 5 Facebook page to report hearing the loud noises and were glad that there was some sort of explanation as to where the sounds were coming from.

Experts call the noises thermal expansion and contraction. That means the components in your home are shrinking and expanding with extreme temperature changes, especially with the sub-zero temperatures so many of us have been experiencing recently.

"There's motion because the outside temperature is different from the temperature inside of your house, so these differentials could cause movement in a different direction and could create that noise," Wentworth Institute of Technology professor Garrick Goldenberg said.

And when materials are tightly secured with nails or fasteners, and the pressure becomes too great, the energy may be released suddenly and cause a loud noise.

And as unsettling and nerve-wracking as they sound, it's not usually a sign of danger.

"Normally a well-built house should be able to handle it," Goldenberg said.