Hours before the deadly Morocco earthquake, a strange blue glow and lightning bolts were seen in the sky.
Could the strange blue glow, which was followed by bolts of lightning and flashes, have been a sign of the approaching earthquake in Morocco, which killed more than 2600 people?
Strange Blue Glow, Lightning Bolts, Deadly Morocco Earthquake
Near the time of Friday's earthquake in Morocco, which claimed more than 2,600 lives and injured thousands more, social media users observed strange lights in the sky.
Scientists claim that earthquakes can cause a variety of light phenomena in our environment, suggesting electric changes beneath the surface, even though it is difficult to verify social media posts.
According to geophysicist Friedemann Freund, the earthquake in Morocco occurred at night, when the likelihood of earthquake lights being seen by people and possibly even being captured on video is relatively high.
Numerous different light phenomena are connected to earthquakes. Although it's not the average lightning during a thunderstorm, lightning does occur frequently. Lightning caused by earthquakes moves from the ground to the cloud after being sparked by electric charges brought on by the earth's seismic activity. Other lights are unmistakably connected to man-made artificial lighting sources like electric poles or lamps.
Earthquake Lights
Friedemann said that an earthquake's plate tectonic movement causes the "earthquake lights". According to the United States Geological Survey, they can look like sheet lightning, streamers, balls of light, or constant glows and is given the abbreviation EQL.
Friedemann noted that if it were at night, it would be so brilliant that a bystander could read the newspaper. Friedemann has published papers on earthquakes and earthquake lights. The sort of excited atom in the environment determines the hue of the light. A mixture of these elements would produce a bright yellow light, whereas oxygen molecules alone may produce a reddish or greenish light.
Friedemann said that both people and animals occasionally experience migraines as a result of the shifting electric charges on the ground and in the atmosphere, which explains certain unusual animal behavior just before an earthquake. Additionally, others reported feeling a tingling sensation in their skin or seeing their hair stand up.
According to Friedemann, a senior research scientist at the SETI Institute who spent 30 years working for NASA, if these earthquake lights occur, this is a sign that strains are increasing and may eventually result in the mechanical phenomenon known as an earthquake.
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Debate on Earthquake Lights and Earthquakes
Friedemann emphasized, however, that there is no absolute proof that there is some link between the lights and earthquakes.
Some geophysicists question whether earthquake lights are really connected to seismic activity or if there is another explanation, such as an electrical system igniting. Since there were no electrical systems in use in the 1700s, according to tales he has read, seismologist John Ebel said he believes earthquake lights are real.
The absence of reports of earthquake lights, according to Ebel, could have several causes. For starters, he noted that many earthquakes occur during the day, making it unlikely that anyone would notice the faint lights. There have been no reports of lights with any earthquakes, even though many of them have their epicenters deep beneath.
However, understanding when earthquake lights occur in connection to the tremor may enable researchers to more accurately predict these tragic occurrences. The majority of reports are made immediately after an earthquake, when individuals awaken, witness a flash, and the ground is trembling. Researchers may install instrumentation near significant fault lines to look for earthquake lights as a warning indication if there was evidence that they had happened before the catastrophe.
According to Ebel, a geophysics professor at Boston College, it is impossible to directly quantify the pulses within the Earth. It might be possible to anticipate earthquakes if a phenomenon provides information about the pressure buildup in the Earth before the earthquake.
A group of Canadian geologists who have been researching earthquake lights since 2014 have developed a novel theory regarding the rainbow-colored flickering flame pillars, and orbs of floating lights, which can occasionally emerge before or during specific earthquakes but not usually after. According to them, the lights are probably related to rift environments, where sub-vertical faults allow electrical currents brought on by stress to quickly travel to the surface.
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