Saturday, September 9, 2017

Earthquake lights

A massive earth quake of the magnitude 8.2 had hit Mexico earlier this week. People reported saying that there were flashes of light on the sky . But these lights are the side effects of high magnitude earthquake and called earthquake lights .


We know that during an earthquake , there will be stress between the tectonic plates of earth. In certain types of rocks , like quartz  , this stress can break up pairs of negatively charged oxygen atoms on the ground  , allowing them to flow upto the surface as an electric current  through cracks in the rocks.


If enough atoms are present , they can ionize pockets of air and form a charged gas , that emits light . These are called earthquake lights .



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