BELFOR CEO Featured in Popular Mechanics to Discuss Rare Weather Phenomenon

Have you heard of a frostquake? Sheldon Yellen lends his expertise to address concerns and curiosity around the unusual weather event.

Working in the restoration and disaster recovery business for 20+ years, BELFOR CEO Sheldon Yellen has led his property restoration force through a wide range of severe weather events and phenomena. Thanks to his extensive experience, Yellen was recently featured in Popular Mechanics to discuss a not-so-common weather phenomenon: frostquakes.

Also known as cryoseisms, frostquakes are defined as “a localized seismic event that happens when temperatures plummet and groundwater freezes.” These rare events can occur when a period of heavy precipitation soaks soil, and then temperatures rapidly plummet, causing the groundwater to freeze and expand. When this happens, the soil can suddenly split, resulting in extremely loud cracking noises and mild, earthquake-like tremors.

In response to concerns that climate change may cause frostquakes to happen more frequently and potentially increase the likelihood of property damage, Popular Mechanics called in Sheldon Yellen for his expertise -

According to Sheldon Yellen, the CEO of an international disaster restoration company and an expert on extreme weather, that kind of damage from a frostquake is “very, very, very rare.”

Yellen, who has experienced two frostquakes—one in Michigan and the other in Minnesota—says they sound a lot like a house settling. “There’s a loud pop … and a crackling afterward.” Both happened on notably frigid days. “Oh my gosh, it was cold,” he remembers.

The increase of frostquakes due to climate change should not worry the average person, Yellen says, and any damage, if it were to occur, would likely be confined to roads and underground walls.

Still, Yellen suggests that while frostquakes are on your mind, you should prepare for other, more dangerous weather.

“Not every event is going to be a small event like a frostquake,” he says. “So where is your family’s disaster preparedness plan? And have you checked it twice this year?”

Interested in learning more about frostquakes? Click here for the full story from Popular Mechanics, or view/download a PDF of the full article here.