Nature Atlas

How Nature Works
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Natural Phenomena

Earthquake Light

Geological Events

Citation Formats

General Reference

APA Style

BibTeX

A rare, unexplained luminous phenomenon, reported as flashes, glows or streamers of light in the sky, that some witnesses describe seeing shortly before or during an earthquake. Documented sporadically for centuries and captured on video during a number of modern earthquakes, earthquake lights remain scientifically contested, with proposed explanations including the generation of electric charge as stressed rock deep underground fractures.

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Earthquake, Natural Phenomena

Earthquake lights are luminous phenomena reported in the sky during or immediately before earthquake shaking, thought to arise from stress-induced electrical effects in rock; the phenomenon is defined by, and occurs during, the earthquake itself.

Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.

View At A Past Year

The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.