Charleston , Kanawha County , West Virginia

Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper said he was told by the Division of Environmental Protection the agency believes explosives used at a mine near Marmet was the source of a mysterious sound heard by area residents.

Carper said the DEP told him the mine "shot" was within limits, but the sound carried more extensively because of atmospheric conditions. A mine "shot" is a process when explosives are used to remove rocks.

The state Department of Commerce identified the property where the explosives were set off as the Keystone Mine owned by Revelation. It is located in the Rush Creek area near Marmet. The subcontractor that detonated the shot was Austin Powder, the Department of Commerce said.

Metro 911 was flooded Tuesday with calls from area residents who reported hearing a loud boom and feeling buildings shake.

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West Virginia's Homeland security director said explosives used at a mine in Kanawha County could be a possible source of a mysterious sound reported by residents on Tuesday.

Jimmy Gianato said a surface mine "shot" was used at a mine in the county at 5:06 p.m. Tuesday. A mine "shot" is a process when explosives are used to remove rocks.

Combined with the cloud cover, Gianato said, that could have caused the sound to carry a lot farther than it would under normal conditions. Officials said they are investigating an explosion that occurred at a mine at Rush Creek near Marmet.

Metro 911 was flooded with calls about that time from residents in multiple areas who said they heard a large boom and felt buildings shake.

Stay tuned to Eyewitness News for updates on this story.

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We have new information on a possible explosion that rocked the Kanawha Valley Tuesday evening.

People living on both the East End and West Side of Charleston reported hearing a loud boom and felt their homes actually shaking.

Following these reports, emergency crews sprung into action, trying to figure out where the noise came from. Gas companies checked their line readings to see if there had been any changes; and county officials contacted the National Weather Service, Yeager Airport and chemical plants to see if they had any reports of incidents. All facilities have the all clear.

Metro 911 did receive a report of a blast at Rush Creek Strip Mine in Kanawha County. We are told mine officials will check the site Wednesday morning.

We will continue to keep you updated on any new developments in this still developing story.

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Gas companies are checking their gas line readings to see if there are any changes in the wake of reports from people in the Charleston area saying they had heard an explosion, Kanawha County Manager Jennifer Sayre said.

Sayre said the National Weather Service, Yeager Airport and chemical companies also have been contacted, and all are reporting they did not know the source of the possible explosion.

Metro 911 reported receiving multiple calls Tuesday afternoon from residents in the eastern end of Charleston. Emergency officials also said reports came from the Louden Heights area of South Hills. Eyewitness News has received calls and Facebook comments from people from as far as way as Sissonville and Whitesville.

Metro 911 said it has checked with a number of different sources, and it has not been able to track down the possible explosion.

Stay tuned to Eyewitness News for updates on this developing story.

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Emergency officials were on standby Tuesday afternoon after multiple calls from residents in Charleston saying they had heard an explosion.

Grant Gunnoe, director of the city's emergency management, said the phone calls came from residents in the eastern end of the city and in the Louden Heights area of South Hills. He said a lot of people had reported feeling buildings shake and hearing an explosion, but no one had actually witnessed any explosion or observed signs of one.

Emergency officials also had contacted Yeager Airport and area chemical plants, and officials said they had not had any incidents that could have been the source of the noise.

Stay tuned to Eyewitness News for updates on this story.

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Metro 911 reported Tuesday afternoon it had received multiple calls from residents who said they had heard an explosion in the eastern end of Charleston.

An emergency dispatcher said the reports came from a number of different areas, including Ariel Drive, Alcoa Drive and Grove Avenue. Eyewitness News also has received calls from residents who said they had heard the noise, including one person who said the noise was heard near Kanawha State Forest. The calls came in about 5:10 p.m.

The dispatcher said emergency officials had not determined what occurred, but Charleston police and firefighters are out conducting an investigation to determine the source of the noise. The dispatcher said some callers reported they had actually felt buildings shake.

An official at Yeager Airport said officials there had felt a building shake.

Stay tuned to Eyewitness News for updates on this story.

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