Near the Horizon, a Blue Flash 'Blink'... The 'Mystery' That Occurred 3 Minutes Before the Earthquake

'Blue Light' Just Before Morocco Earthquake
Seismic Light Phenomenon Sparks Debate Among Scholars
Varied Forms Including Lightning, Aurora, and Spheres

On the 8th (local time), just before the earthquake struck Morocco, a blue light flashing in the sky was captured, raising interest in 'earthquake lights.'

At 11:08 PM on the 8th, three minutes before the strong earthquake in Morocco, a CCTV in a residential area of Morocco recorded a blue flash flickering in the dark night sky along the horizon. Experts suggested that this blue flash could be 'earthquake lights (EQL).'

Blue flash captured in the night sky just before the Morocco earthquake [Image source=@Eyaaaad X (Twitter) capture, Yonhap News]

According to CNN in the United States on the 13th, the earthquake light phenomenon remains one of the long-standing mysteries among scholars. Earthquake lights are known as a type of flash that occurs when strong collisions happen between geological layers during a major earthquake. The appearance of earthquake lights varies without a fixed form; sometimes resembling lightning or polar auroras, other times appearing as glowing spheres floating in the air. They can also appear as small flames moving along the ground surface or large flames rising from the earth. Not only the shapes but also the colors of the lights vary. Earthquake lights sometimes occur multiple times and can last for several minutes.

Scholars have differing opinions on the causes of earthquake lights.

Friedman Freund, an adjunct professor at San Jose State University, suggested that just before an earthquake, tectonic stress applied to specific defects or impurities in rock crystals can cause this phenomenon. The force acting on the rock generates an electric charge at a rate of 200 meters per second, similar to turning on a battery.

Other scholars propose that static electricity generated by rock fracturing and radon release leads to earthquake lights. Some interpret that electric arcs occurring in power lines due to earthquakes are mistaken for the natural phenomenon of earthquake lights.

In 2014, Dr. Robert Therrien of Natural Resources Canada in Quebec and Dr. John Deer of the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory in the United States published a paper in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America analyzing 65 past earthquakes. They introduced hypotheses related to the cause of luminous phenomena observed in the atmosphere before and after earthquakes. They explained, "During seismic activity, light is generated as if a battery is turned on in the Earth's crust by charges activated in certain types of rock."

According to their research, among the 65 earthquakes in the United States and Europe where earthquake lights have been reported since the 1600s, 80% were magnitude 5.0 or higher. Furthermore, many of these earthquakes occurred within tectonic plates rather than at plate boundaries. Earthquake lights were mainly observed just before or during earthquakes and were more likely to appear near valleys nestled between highlands.

The earthquake light captured in Turkey last February [Image source=Twitter capture]

Before the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China, luminous clouds were observed, presumed to be earthquake lights. Recently, during the February earthquake in T?rkiye, a flash resembling lightning lit up the night sky, turning it entirely blue, and this was captured on video.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), some experts completely deny the correlation between such lights and earthquakes. They argue that since earthquake lights occur very rarely and not consistently, it is difficult to consider them as precursors to earthquakes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.