This paper reports on the results of the investigation of the cathodoluminescence spectra of silica and alkali silicate glasses upon excitation with a pulsed electron beam (energy, 180 keV; current density, 700 A/cm 2 ; pulse duration, 2 ns). The luminescence band observed in the energy range 2.4-2.6 eV is assigned to modified structural defects of the ≡ Si-O·/ Me + type. These defects are revealed under high-density electronic excitation and, unlike the known L centers in alkali silicate glasses, are interpreted as a variety of nonbridging oxygen hole centers (defects of the dangling bond type) subjected to a disturbing action of the nearest neighbor alkali metal cations. The cathodoluminescence of similar centers is observed in neutron-irradiated silica glasses with lithium impurities; alkali silicate glasses with Li, Na, and K cations; and glasses in the two-alkali Na-K systems. It is established that the energy of the radiative transition of a modified nonbridging oxygen hole center, namely, ≡ Si-O·/ Me + , depends on the alkali cation type.