Case file · High strangeness

Earthquake lights over Mexico City

During the magnitude 8.2 Chiapas earthquake of 7 September 2017, people in Mexico City filmed blue-green flashes lighting up the night sky.

2017 CE · 19.40, -99.15 · status: explained

The account

Earthquake lights are a reported but still poorly understood phenomenon. Many 2017 clips were traced to electrical arcing in shaken power lines and transformers, but researchers note that genuine luminous effects, possibly from stressed rock, are also recorded during large quakes.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia: Earthquake light
  2. Wikipedia: 2017 Chiapas earthquake
Open it in the living atlas