Watch an earthquake-triggering meteor blaze over Detroit

Residents of Detroit and elsewhere in southeast Michigan saw a bright flash at about 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday, followed by an earth-shaking boom, and meteorologists pretty quickly said thunder and lightning weren't to blame. People who got a good look at the bright light arcing across the night sky would have likely already ruled out lightning. A Michigander named Mike Austin posted this dash-cam recording of what the U.S. Geological Survey eventually confirmed to be a meteor that caused a magnitude 2.0 earthquake.

A meteor blazing across the sky is "certainly a rare occurrence," National Weather Service meteorologist Jordan Dale told the Detroit Free Press. Some people who saw the flash, visible from Flint to Toledo, were concerned, but others saw the lighter side. Luckily, as one wag joked darkly, the meteor didn't fall on Hawaii.

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