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Portland Oregon experiencing loud booms.

Happening?

Is this the culprit for those ‘WTF level’ booms echoing across Portland?

That ear-rattling racket has to be coming from somewhere.

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Updated: Feb. 06, 2026, 3:21 p.m.

|Published: Feb. 06, 2026, 3:01 p.m.

The moon peers down on Portland from a more peaceful night sky in August 2023. Mark Graves/The Oregonian

By

Zane Sparling | The Oregonian/OregonLive

For once it wasn’t the upstairs neighbor’s late-night bongo session that punctured the peace and quiet around 11:20 p.m. Sunday evening.

It was a boom, and by any measure, a big one.

Confronted with the cacophony, many Portlanders took to social media, where one user inquired about the “WTF level boom” echoing across Southeast Portland.

Others tuned in to the Portland Fire & Rescue scanner, awaiting news of an elephant stampede at the timpani factory.

Residents even alerted emergency services, with several callers claiming to see smoke rising from a commercial building. Fire crews investigated a few central locations, including Southeast Grand Avenue off Division Place.

“The only thing we’re seeing is a one-story wide commercial building with steam coming off…out of a vent,” a firefighter radioed in.

“Police confirmed it was a mortar that went off and have cleared,” a dispatcher replied, ruining everyone’s fun.

But it appears the mystery triggered an encore, or perhaps an opener, as clear-eared Portlanders began reporting other loud sounds. Some said they’d heard thunderous retorts on Saturday evening, Wednesday evening — with one reporting a broad-daylight boom around 4 p.m. Monday.

Maybe all the racket was emanating from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, some people wondered.

Alas, The Oregonian/OregonLive’s reporting indicates there were no large blasts at ICE on any of those occasions, with Saturday being the only night with much of a crowd present.

Yet if the clamor has left residents straining to hear good news over the whirr of the white noise machine, maybe it’s this. A boom loop is better than a doom loop.

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2026/02/is-this-the-culprit-for-those-wtf-level-booms-echoing-across-portland.html