Ancient and Modern Earthquake Lights in Northwestern Turkey

Stothers, Richard B.

doi:10.1785/gssrl.75.2.199

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…There are other descriptions of marine light: (Derr, 1973;Kilbourne and Saucedo, 1981;Tsukuda, 1997;Soter, 1999;Stothers, 2004;Ulusoy and Ikeya, 2008;Granin et al, 2012) differing from each other and with little detail. (Heraud and Lira, 2011) described surface bluish-white vertical pillars of light from low-lying rocky islets but generation under the sea seems less commonly reported.…”

Section: The Lyttelton Sub-sea Observationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most show a white spherical ground-based core surrounded by radiating blue-white light, fading the further it is from the core. There are now thought to be numerous valid records throughout history (Derr, 1973), (Stothers, 2004), (Thériault, St-Laurent, Freund, and Derr, 2014), though the origin is still argued, (Straser, 2007), (Fidani, 2010), (Fidani, 2012), (Freund, 2011), and may be multiple.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Origin of Earthquake Light Associated with Earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, 2010-2011

Whitehead

Ulusoy

2015

Earth sci. res. j.

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Earthquake light (EQL) mainly blue-white flashes from the ground, was observed coseismically during a New Zealand M7.1 earthquake, (4.47 am 4-Sep-2010 local time). A local production mechanism is most probable. The blue-white flash observations support the Freund et al. mechanism, i.e. shockwave disturbance creating electronic "holes" from ruptured peroxy bonds in quartz, and subsequent surface positive charge from the ground, followed by light emission during neutralization. Examination of video records shows the flash median length is about half a second and needs to be differentiated from the light during electricity supply short circuits. Observed ground-level white colors appear to result from very intense non-specific air ionization. Blue colors seem to be nitrogen emission with a short lifetime, succeeded by green oxygen emissions with longer lifetime followed by much lower intensity red. These were created by transient low-to-moderate voltages and probably include significant UV production. The maximum likely radiation dose is small, restricted to the skin, and equivalent at most to a few months natural background radiation. Calculations confirm the release of 222 Rn is not the major mechanism for creating earthquake light, and would contribute minimal radiation dose. Other unique observations are: streamers of light changing from blue to green as they passed from west to east, vertical sheets of blue-green light from cracks in an asphalt road surface, created by local shockwaves and shearing forces, daylight observation by fishermen of rapid linear undersea travel of blue light seconds before a 2011 M6.0 aftershock, and a mid-day green-blue glow over nearby hills containing a fault zone, shortly before the further destructive M6.3 earthquake, (12.51 pm 22-Feb-2011).Las luces de terremoto o EQL (del inglés "Earth Quake Light") son principalmente azul blancas y fueron cosísmicamente observadas durante un terremoto de magnitud 7.1 en Nueva Zelanda (4:47 a.m., 4 de septiembre de 2010, hora local). Es muy probable que el fenómeno haya sido producto de un mecanismo local. Las observaciones del destello azul blanco coinciden con el mecanismo de Freund y otros, esto es, la alteración de un movimiento sísmico que crea "agujeros" electrónicos a partir de lazos de ácido peroxi rotos en cuarzos, con carga positiva superficial consecuente del suelo, y seguida por la emisión de luz durante la neutralización. La revisión de grabaciones de video muestra que la duración del destello es de cerca de medio segundo y debe ser diferenciado de la luz generada por los cortos circuitos del fluido eléctrico. Los colores blancos observados a nivel del terreno parecen resultar de una intensa ionización aérea no específica. Los colores azules serían emisiones de nitrógeno con un corto período de duración, sucedidas por emisiones de oxígeno verde de mayor duración y seguidas por un rojo mucho menos intenso. Estos colores fueron creados por voltajes transitorios de bajo a moderados y probablemente incluyen una producción significativ...

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Section: The Lyttelton Sub-sea Observationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Origin of Earthquake Light Associated with Earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, 2010-2011

Whitehead

Ulusoy

2015

Earth sci. res. j.

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“…A questionnaire was compiled to collect valuable information on the public perception (Bird, 2009) of these phenomena, for which no instruments were active at the time and site of the Aquila earthquake. The questions were inspired from previous works (Galli, 1910;Terada, 1931;Matteucig, 1985;Persinger, 1990;Soter, 1999;St-Laurent, 2000;Stothers, 2004) and are listed in the supplementary material (http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/10/967/2010/ nhess-10-967-2010-supplement.pdf).…”

Section: The Collection Of Testimonials and Their Scopesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A complete account of previous testimonials already compiled (Fidani, 2005), dating back as far as 2000 BC and continuing to the present day, regard only vague statements concerning the general features of luminosity. A critical review of luminous testimonies has stressed the importance of selecting a scientific scope (Stothers, 2004). Middle-Age legends have also been reinterpreted in a multidisciplinary manner taking into account luminous phenomena (Piccardi, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The earthquake lights (EQL) of the 6 April 2009 Aquila earthquake, in Central Italy

Fidani

2010

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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A seven-month collection of testimonials about the 6 April 2009 earthquake in Aquila, Abruzzo region, Italy, was compiled into a catalogue of non-seismic phenomena. Luminous phenomena were often reported starting about nine months before the strong shock and continued until about five months after the shock. A summary and list of the characteristics of these sightings was made according to 20th century classifications and a comparison was made with the Galli outcomes. These sightings were distributed over a large area around the city of Aquila, with a major extension to the north, up to 50 km. Various earthquake lights were correlated with several landscape characteristics and the source and dynamic of the earthquake. Some preliminary considerations on the location of the sightings suggest a correlation between electrical discharges and asperities, while flames were mostly seen along the Aterno Valley

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“…No EQLs were reported to accompany intermediatedepth earthquakes. EQLs were also reported in NW Turkey by Stothers (2004). St-Laurent (2000) reported EQLs associated with earthquakes as small as M = 4.8 in Quebec, Canada.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Co-seismic luminescence in Lima, 150 km from the epicenter of the Pisco, Peru earthquake of 15 August 2007

Heraud

Lira

2011

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The first photographs of Co-seismic Luminescence, commonly known as Earthquake lights (EQLs), were reported in 1968 in Japan. However, there have been documented reports of luminescence associated with earthquakes since ancient times in different parts of the world. Besides this, there is modern scientific work dealing with evidence of and models for the production of such lights. During the Peru 15 August 2007 M w = 8.0 earthquake which occurred at 06:40 p.m. LT, hence dark in the southern wintertime, several EQLs were observed along the Peruvian coast and extensively reported in the capital city of Lima, about 150 km northwest of the epicenter. These lights were video-recorded by a security camera installed at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru (PUCP) campus and time-correlated with seismic ground accelerations registered at the seismological station on campus, analyzed and related to highly qualified eyewitness observations of the phenomena from other parts of the city and to other video recordings. We believe the evidence presented here contributes significantly to sustain the hypothesis that electromagnetic phenomena related to seismic activity can occur, at least during an earthquake. It is highly probable that continued research in luminescence and the use of magnetometers in studying electromagnetic activity and radon gas emanation detectors will contribute even more towards determining their occurrence during and probably prior to seismic activity.

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Ancient and Modern Earthquake Lights in Northwestern Turkey

Cited by 9 publications

References 23 publications

Origin of Earthquake Light Associated with Earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, 2010-2011

Origin of Earthquake Light Associated with Earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, 2010-2011

The earthquake lights (EQL) of the 6 April 2009 Aquila earthquake, in Central Italy

Co-seismic luminescence in Lima, 150 km from the epicenter of the Pisco, Peru earthquake of 15 August 2007

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