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Mysterious bang shakes homes in east Abbotsford

Dozens on Facebook say they felt it, Abbotsford fire service and police say they received no reports
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An extremely loud mysterious bang rang through east Abbotsford on Wednesday night, leaving many in the community wondering about its source.

One person reported in a Facebook post that the noise went “all the way up [Sumas] Mountain.” Another user reported that, “It sounded like a cannon shot” and “definitely sounded [like it was coming] from the south.”

Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service and the Abbotsford Police Department both said they hadn’t received any reports of the loud bang, which dozens of Facebook commenters said took place around 9:30 p.m. Many of the commenters reported their houses shaking alongside the blast.

In the past, the city has felt its share of mysterious bangs coming from the U.S.

In 2016, Abbotsford was rattled with three or four loud bangs emanating from the U.S., where the Bellingham Police Department were detonating expired explosives in Whatcom County. Afterwards, police there said they would notify Canadian authorities if similar detonations took place in the future.

RELATED: Loud bangs heard across Abbotsford were explosive disposal in U.S.

In another sound event from 2012, people reported hearing a loud explosion in south Abbotsford and felt the ground shake. It was later confirmed that the U.S. Air Force was doing some form of testing with explosives south of the border.

The News has reached out to authorities in Sumas and Bellingham in the U.S., but have not yet received confirmation about whether the most recent bang was coming from either of those areas.

RELATED: ‘Explosion’ sounds coming from across the border, U.S. Air Force the cause

The News asked our audience what they thought might have been responsible for the sound. People have speculated earthquakes, demolition blasting on Sumas Mountain, a transformer blowing, drug labs and aliens – naturally.

While a small earthquake hit off the coast of Vancouver Island 12 hours before the bang, no other quakes were reported by the U.S. Geological Survey. Likewise, no power outages were reported in Abbotsford by BC Hydro during this time.