What are Strange Lights Spotted During Morocco Earthquake & Why Have They Puzzled Scientists | EXPLAINED

Mysterious flashes of lights were reportedly seen in Morocco before a devastating earthquake hit the country last week. People shared videos showing bright flashes of light streaking across the sky on video before the earthquake hit.

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit the Atlas Mountains in Morocco killing 2,946 people and injuring 5,674 in the quake that struck late Friday.

The earthquake lights were similar to unexplained lights seen during previous seismic events. The lights were seen before the Morocco quake were similar to the ones caught on security cameras during an earthquake in Pisco, Peru in 2007. A video taken in China shortly before the earthquake in Sichuan in 2008 shows luminous clouds floating in the sky.

What are these lights?

The bright dancing light is likely a phenomenon known as earthquake lights and have puzzled scientists for long.

These earthquake lights have been commonly spotted in Italy, Greece, France, Germany, China and South America, and on rare occasions seen in Japan and North America.

Japanese geologist Yutaka Yasui was the first to provide some photographic evidence of the phenomenon in 1973 showing reddish and blue clouds in the sky, according to The Independent.

Where Have the Earthquake Lights Occurred?

John Derr, a retired geophysicist who used to work at the US Geological Survey, and his colleagues gathered information on 65 American and European earthquakes which had trustworthy reports of earthquake lights.

The researchers found that 80 percent of the earthquake lights occurred in tremors with magnitudes greater than 5.0, a report in CNN said.

The phenomenon was observed shortly before or during the seismic event and was visible up 600 kilometers from the quake epicenter, it added.

Earthquakes, occur most likely along or in the vicinity of the areas where tectonic plates meet. However, the study found that the most of the earthquakes linked to luminous phenomena occurred within tectonic plates, rather than at their edges.

The study also said that the earthquake lights were more likely to occur near rift valleys or places where Earth’s crust had been pulled apart, creating an elongated lowland region that lies between two higher blocks of land.

What Causes earthquake lights?

There is no consensus among seismologists on what causes earthquake lights and scientists are still trying to unlock the mysteries of these outbursts.

Friedemann Freund, an adjunct professor at San Jose University, suggested that when defects or impurities in crystals in rocks are put under mechanical stress, before or during a major earthquake, they instantly break apart and generate electricity.

Rock, an insulator, when mechanically stressed, becomes a semiconductor. Therefore, when tectonic plates rub together, the friction creates enough current to produce an electric discharge, which would explain the bright flash.

Freund said it’s like switching on a battery where electrical charges can flow out of the stressed rocks into and through unstressed rocks.

Other theories about the earthquake lights indicate that it is caused by static electricity produced by fracturing of rock and radon emanation.

Scientists say that if these lights are found linked to powerful seismic activity, then they could be used to help with early detection efforts.