"Rare ‘earthquake lights’ linked to rifts in Earth"
http://natmonitor.com/2014/01/04/researchers-solve-mystery-of-rare-earthquake-lights/ According to a news release from the Seismological Society of America, rare earthquake lights (EQL) are more
likely to take place on or near rift environments, where subvertical faults allow stress-induced electrical current
to travel rapidly to the surface. Interestingly, EQL appear before or during earthquakes, but seldom after.
According to researchers, continental rift environments now seem to be the common factor associated with EQL.
Researchers examined 65 documented EQL cases since 1600 A.D. and found that 85 percent appeared spatially
on or near rifts, and 97 percent appeared adjacent to subvertical faults.
“The numbers are striking and unexpected,” posited Robert Theriault, a geologist with the Ministere des Ressources
Naturelles of Quebec, in a statement. ”We don’t know quite yet why more earthquake light events are related to rift
environments than other types of faults, but unlike other faults that may dip at a 30-35 degree angle, such as in
subduction zones, subvertical faults characterize the rift environments in these cases.”
Two of the 65 documented EQL cases that researchers studied are associated with subduction zones, but Theriault
posits there may be an undiscovered subvertical fault present.
Eighty-five percent of the 65 earthquakes were greater than M 5.0. The EQL differed in shape and extent, though
most frequently appeared as globular brilliant masses, either stationary or traveling, as atmospheric lights or as
flame-like luminosities emerging from the ground.
http://natmonitor.com/news/wp-content/uploads/earthquake-lights.jpg See Also
http://www.seis.nagoya-u.ac.jp/INTRO/200702hakko.pdf http://www.kakioka-jma.go.jp/publ/journal_list/pdf_files/memoirs_of_KMO_31_05.pdf oh...