Disturbance in the Force

"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi, sensing the destruction of Alderaan

A disturbance in the Force, also known as a disruption in the Force or a tremor in the Force, was an anomaly in the currents of the Force, the powerful energy field which bound all beings, that could be sensed by Force-sensitives, such as Jedi. It could be caused by events of a cataclysmic nature, such as a large group of people dying at the same time. One sensing a disturbance in the Force might react in pain and confusion, feeling empathetic mental anguish.

History
"What is thy bidding, my master?''" "There is a great disturbance in the Force." "I have felt it." "''We have a new enemy, the young rebel who destroyed the Death Star. I have no doubt this boy is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker."

- Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine discuss Luke Skywalker

Anakin Skywalker's suffering due to his mother being killed by Tusken Raiders and subsequent slaughter of an entire Tusken village on Tatooine created a disturbance in the Force so powerful that Yoda felt it from halfway across the galaxy on Coruscant.

The resurgence of Darth Maul on Lotho Minor, as willed by his brother Savage Opress and Mother Talzin, caused a disturbance in the Force powerful enough to be sensed by Anakin Skywalker on Stobar, Asajj Ventress on Tatooine, and Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi on Coruscant.

Upon Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine's execution of Order 66, the great Jedi Grand Master Yoda sensed a powerful disturbance in the Force as Jedi throughout the galaxy were killed by clone troopers that they had commanded. His skill allowed him to escape the same fate and flee from the planet Kashyyyk with the aid of friendly Wookiees.

Palpatine wondered why he did not feel a disruption in the Force when Wilhuff Tarkin's starship, the Carrion Spike, was stolen by rebels.

Later, Palplatine sensed the death of Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus as a disturbance in the Force that had altered the fate of the planet Lothal, though he could not sense exactly how. He felt that the seizure of Lothal Jedi Temple might provide clarity into the matter.

Obi-Wan Kenobi felt a great disturbance in the Force when the planet Alderaan was destroyed by the Death Star.

Palpatine, in his new role as Galactic Emperor and speaking via hologram with Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader, as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, described Luke Skywalker's potential emergence as a Jedi as a "great disturbance in the Force."

Both Supreme Leader Snoke and Kylo Ren felt the emergence of Rey's latent Force power as an "awakening" in the Force.

The First Order's use of Starkiller Base to obliterate the Hosnian system resulted in a massive disturbance in the Force that was felt by Leia Organa at the Resistance base on D'Qar. Organa also buckled at a shudder in the Force upon the murder of her husband, Han Solo, at the hands of their son, Kylo Ren.

Non-canon appearances

 * Star Wars Epic Yarns: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Epic Yarns: The Empire Strikes Back