The fireball broke up over northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire just after 2pm (1806 GMT), the US space agency’s deputy news chief Jennifer Dooren told AFP in a statement.

“This fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower, but it was a natural object and not a re-entry of space debris or a satellite,” she said, according to the Guardian.

“The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which accounts for the loud booms.”

The meteor was travelling at 75,000 miles per hour (more than 120,000 km/h) at an altitude of 40 miles when it broke apart, Dooren said.

Area residents were alarmed by the unexpected loud booms, with social media users reporting they were so powerful that houses were shaking.