Was there an earthquake or explosion in Salina? Kansas Air National Guard explained what happened

Charles Rankin, Salina Journal
·2 min read

While it is usually a place where harmless, inert bombs are dropped, the Smoky Hill Air National Guard Range was the epicenter for rumbles and noises felt and heard throughout Saline County Tuesday.

Beginning shortly after 2 p.m. May 31, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter were active with people asking where these loud booms were coming from.

There were a few theories behind what the sounds could be, with the 34,000-acre target range a likely candidate from many of the people posting. On Wednesday, the Kansas Adjutant General's Department, which operates the Kansas National Guard, confirmed that theory.

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"There was explosive ordnance training (going on)," said Jane Welch, the director for the public affairs office of the adjutant general's department. "(For) part of the training, they were actually blowing stuff up."

Welch said most of the time, the range is used for training by dropping inert bombs. Tuesday, the training included real explosives.

"That's why people were hearing booms that they don't normally hear," Welch said.

Social media wasn't the only place people were asking questions though. Michelle Barkley, director of Saline County Emergency Management, said she heard from several people in the community about it.

"It does seem like there was an abnormal amount of people complaining about 'the booms,'" Barkley said.

Barkley said her office made contact with the range and was made aware that it was "hot" on Tuesday.

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Welch said this kind of training, with real explosions, doesn't happen very often, but the next time it does, the community might know more beforehand.

"I told them, next time, why don't we put out something to the media before you do it," Welch said.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Why Saline County residents heard explosions, felt shakes Tuesday