Earthquake Lights: Why the Sky Glows Before Major Quakes
“An electric whisper from a planet under stress.” Rare luminous sky glows reported before powerful earthquakes. For centuries, eyewitnesses have reported strange lights — sheets of luminous blue, columns of flame, or brief aurora-like glows — appearing before or during powerful earthquakes. The tales were once dismissed as superstition. Today, the phenomenon called earthquake lights (EQL) is a documented geophysical event. Scientists have verified images, eyewitness records, and satellite observations that confirm something luminous often accompanies seismic activity. The remaining question is not whether the lights exist, but how they form and whether they can be used as a reliable early signal. What People See Descriptions of earthquake lights vary, but patterns repeat across continents and centuries: Bright, static flashes or streaks of white, blue, or orange light near the horizon. Glow...