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After seeing videos recorded just before Morocco’s catastrophic earthquake, people are left baffled by the bright lights that were seen in the country’s skies.
On Friday, September 8, Morocco was struck by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake, the disaster has claimed over 3,000 lives and left thousands injured
A tectonic plate collision between the Eurasian and African plates is thought to have caused this disaster, which has been dubbed the deadliest earthquake the nation has seen in decades.
However, some Moroccans saw bright lights crossing the sky before the earthquake happened.
In one video on the internet, an object that resembles an asteroid shoots across the sky. Videos from other sources show what appears to be lightening.
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These lights, which are known as “earthquake lights,” are rare but not unheard of.
Geophysicist Friedemann Freund provided an explanation for the phenomenon to The Washington Post, saying:
“The [Morocco] earthquake happened at nighttime.
“The condition for earthquake lights to be seen by people and maybe even recorded by cameras would be relatively high.”
Different from the typical lightning bolts you could witness during a storm are the so-called seismic lights. They allegedly move from the ground to the cloud and are triggered by electric charges connected to earth-seismic activity.
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As for the reason why people witnessed many bright lights, earthquake lights can take many distinct forms.
The lights can manifest as sheet lightning, balls of light, streamers, and constant glows, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
While Freund believes the phenomenon is caused by the plate tectonic movement of an earthquake, earthquake lights have occasionally been observed as a result of electricity arcing from the trembling power lines.
The USGS refers to earthquake lights as EQLs, and there seems to be ongoing discussion over them among geologists.
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While nations like Japan, Haiti, Turkey, and Indonesia are categorised as “earthquake-prone,” it’s ‘unusual’ but not impossible for a nation like Morocco to endure a devastating earthquake.
Seismologist Florent Brenguier of Grenoble University’s Institut des Sciences de la Terre provided the following explanation to FRANCE 24: “It’s important to remember that the whole of Morocco, and the whole Mediterranean region in general, is susceptible to major earthquakes.”
Brenguier stated that although earthquakes are relatively rare, “their magnitude can be significant” when they do occur.
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“The most striking example is the Agadir earthquake in 1960, which killed 12,000 people and virtually destroyed the entire city,” he added.
