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Hub AI
Earthquake light AI simulator
(@Earthquake light_simulator)
Hub AI
Earthquake light AI simulator
(@Earthquake light_simulator)
Earthquake light
An earthquake light also known as earthquake lightning or earthquake flash is a luminous optical phenomenon sometimes reported in the sky at or near areas of tectonic stress, seismic activity, or volcanic eruptions. There is no broad consensus as to the causes of the phenomenon (or phenomena) involved, and disagreement about whether earthquake lights exist.
One of the first records of earthquake lights is from the 869 Jōgan earthquake, described as "strange lights in the sky" in Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku.[better source needed] A "luminous appearance" in the sky was also reported around the North Canterbury earthquake in New Zealand on 1 September 1888. The lights have been reported as white or blue flashes and as glowing orbs. Accounts of viewable distance from the epicenter varies: in the 1930 Idu earthquake, lights were reported up to 110 km (70 mi) from the epicenter. Earthquake lights were reportedly spotted in Mexico City after a 8.2 magnitude earthquake with epicenter 740 km (460 mi) away, near Pijijiapan in the state of Chiapas. They are usually reported to appear while an earthquake is occurring, although there are reports of lights before or after earthquakes, such as reports concerning the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake in Italy.
Lights coinciding with tectonic activity have sometimes been filmed by witnesses or security cameras, including during the 2007 Peru earthquake, the 2010 Chile earthquakes, and during a magnitude 6.8 aftershock of the 2022 Michoacán earthquake.
Earthquake lights were once interpreted from the context of religious belief and paranormal events such as UFO sightings. Professional and academic geologists were dismissive for years of the concept of earthquake lights. According to Joseph Stromberg writing in Smithsonian and Brian Clark Howard in National Geographic, scientific acceptance began in the 1960s. National Geographic reported it was not until photographs of "earthquake lights that were clearly tied to the geologic activity" were captured in 1965 at Nagano, Japan, after which "scientists acknowledged the validity of the phenomenon," according to Stromberg. J. S. Derr wrote in Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America in 1973, "The existence of luminous phenomena, or earthquake lights, is well established." In 1978, T. Neil Davis at the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, wrote of the earthquake lights photographed in 1965, and said, "No longer does this subject lurk in the shadows of scientific skepticism." The United States Geological Survey (USGS) was "circumspect" about the existence of earthquake lights; National Geographic quoted USGS from 2020: "Geophysicists differ on the extent to which they think that individual reports of unusual lighting near the time and epicenter of an earthquake actually represent EQL. Some doubt that any of the reports constitute solid evidence for EQL, whereas others think that at least some reports plausibly correspond to EQL."
Earthquake lights may be classified into two different groups based on their time of appearance: (1) preseismic earthquake light, which generally occur a few seconds to up to a few weeks prior to an earthquake, and are generally observed closer to the epicenter and (2) coseismic earthquake light, which can occur either near the epicenter ("earthquake‐induced stress"), or at significant distances away from the epicenter during the passage of the seismic wavetrain, in particular during the passage of S waves ("wave‐induced stress").
According to National Geographic, earthquake lights were previously reported in North America and Japan among other locations, but are more common in South America, China, Germany, Greece, France, and Italy. Earthquake light during the lower magnitude aftershock series seem to be rare.
Research into earthquake lights is ongoing; as such, several mechanisms have been proposed.
A possible explanation is local disruption of the Earth's magnetic field and/or ionosphere in the region of tectonic stress, resulting in the observed glow effects either from ionospheric radiative recombination at lower altitudes and greater atmospheric pressure or as aurora. However, the effect is clearly not pronounced or notably observed at all earthquake events and is yet to be directly experimentally verified.
Earthquake light
An earthquake light also known as earthquake lightning or earthquake flash is a luminous optical phenomenon sometimes reported in the sky at or near areas of tectonic stress, seismic activity, or volcanic eruptions. There is no broad consensus as to the causes of the phenomenon (or phenomena) involved, and disagreement about whether earthquake lights exist.
One of the first records of earthquake lights is from the 869 Jōgan earthquake, described as "strange lights in the sky" in Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku.[better source needed] A "luminous appearance" in the sky was also reported around the North Canterbury earthquake in New Zealand on 1 September 1888. The lights have been reported as white or blue flashes and as glowing orbs. Accounts of viewable distance from the epicenter varies: in the 1930 Idu earthquake, lights were reported up to 110 km (70 mi) from the epicenter. Earthquake lights were reportedly spotted in Mexico City after a 8.2 magnitude earthquake with epicenter 740 km (460 mi) away, near Pijijiapan in the state of Chiapas. They are usually reported to appear while an earthquake is occurring, although there are reports of lights before or after earthquakes, such as reports concerning the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake in Italy.
Lights coinciding with tectonic activity have sometimes been filmed by witnesses or security cameras, including during the 2007 Peru earthquake, the 2010 Chile earthquakes, and during a magnitude 6.8 aftershock of the 2022 Michoacán earthquake.
Earthquake lights were once interpreted from the context of religious belief and paranormal events such as UFO sightings. Professional and academic geologists were dismissive for years of the concept of earthquake lights. According to Joseph Stromberg writing in Smithsonian and Brian Clark Howard in National Geographic, scientific acceptance began in the 1960s. National Geographic reported it was not until photographs of "earthquake lights that were clearly tied to the geologic activity" were captured in 1965 at Nagano, Japan, after which "scientists acknowledged the validity of the phenomenon," according to Stromberg. J. S. Derr wrote in Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America in 1973, "The existence of luminous phenomena, or earthquake lights, is well established." In 1978, T. Neil Davis at the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, wrote of the earthquake lights photographed in 1965, and said, "No longer does this subject lurk in the shadows of scientific skepticism." The United States Geological Survey (USGS) was "circumspect" about the existence of earthquake lights; National Geographic quoted USGS from 2020: "Geophysicists differ on the extent to which they think that individual reports of unusual lighting near the time and epicenter of an earthquake actually represent EQL. Some doubt that any of the reports constitute solid evidence for EQL, whereas others think that at least some reports plausibly correspond to EQL."
Earthquake lights may be classified into two different groups based on their time of appearance: (1) preseismic earthquake light, which generally occur a few seconds to up to a few weeks prior to an earthquake, and are generally observed closer to the epicenter and (2) coseismic earthquake light, which can occur either near the epicenter ("earthquake‐induced stress"), or at significant distances away from the epicenter during the passage of the seismic wavetrain, in particular during the passage of S waves ("wave‐induced stress").
According to National Geographic, earthquake lights were previously reported in North America and Japan among other locations, but are more common in South America, China, Germany, Greece, France, and Italy. Earthquake light during the lower magnitude aftershock series seem to be rare.
Research into earthquake lights is ongoing; as such, several mechanisms have been proposed.
A possible explanation is local disruption of the Earth's magnetic field and/or ionosphere in the region of tectonic stress, resulting in the observed glow effects either from ionospheric radiative recombination at lower altitudes and greater atmospheric pressure or as aurora. However, the effect is clearly not pronounced or notably observed at all earthquake events and is yet to be directly experimentally verified.