A show of natural blue lightning across the night sky took place in Mexico during a powerful earthquake on Tuesday, making residents fearing the 'apocalypse' as they rushed into the streets.
Social media users shared content online, using the tag 'Apocalipsis', the biblical term used to denote the end of the world.
The quake had the force of 7.0 magnitude on the Richter scale, hitting 11 miles (17.7 km) northeast of Acapulco in the southwestern state of Guerrero. One man was reported dead, while several buildings were damaged.
There have been no reports of significant damage in Mexico City so far.
Footage shows flashes appearing soon after the ground started shaking, illuminating hills behind the ocean bay and buildings on the shoreline.
Este es el momento en el que se observaron las luces en el cielo esta noche, durante el #sismo registrado en #Acapulco, #Guerrero pic.twitter.com/Xeg2BZzF28
— Foro_TV (@Foro_TV) September 8, 2021
Un pequeño ensayo del apocalipsis. 🤠pic.twitter.com/ljTcD0DNN5
— Dios (@Dios_Padre) September 8, 2021
Panicked residents in Mexico City were trying to maintain their balance outside buildings as the sky turned from blue to white and pink from the flashes.
Unusual lightning in the sky during earthquakes is a phenomenon often associated with religious meaning by those who experience it. Scientists are not in agreement as to what causes the peculiar phenomenon.
One theory on what is called by researchers, Earthquake Lights (EQL), is that the friction between moving rocks may create electrical activity. A similar case of lightning was observed during the destructive earthquake that took place in Mexico in 2017.
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) says on its website:
"Geophysicists differ on the extent to which they think that individual reports of unusual lighting near the time and epicenter of an earthquake actually represent EQL. Some doubt that any of the reports constitute solid evidence," USGS said.
[h/t: Reuters]
+is+just+about+to+shoot+a+Jewish+man+kneeling.jpg)
COMMENTS