Before earthquakes, we often observe a strange phenomenon - a bright glow in the air. Perhaps this is where the legends about the "fiery horsemen" descended to the earth to warn people about the coming disaster. And yet - what is it?
Northern lights over Japan
In 1847, before the earthquake in Shinshu (Japan), a rotating fire cloud appeared against the background of a dark sky. It moved towards Mount Iduna and, having reached it, disappeared … In April 1966, a luminous elliptical cloud appeared over the epicenter of the earthquake in the Caucasus … In 1911, on the eve of the earthquake in Germany, fireballs suddenly appeared in the cloudless sky. And on November 26, 1930, before the earthquake on the Izu Peninsula (Japan), stripes of the northern lights appeared in the sky.
Tashkent torch
One of the survivors of the 1948 Ashgabat disaster says that on the eve of the earthquake, he saw an arc of electrical discharges flying across the sky, which went into the ground near the water tower, just 30-40 m from the place where the eyewitness stood. Then, almost immediately, after a short gust of wind, there was the first tremor …
During the Tashkent earthquake in 1966, a giant torch of light burst out of the ground. He swiftly rose up and, in front of astonished eyewitnesses, disappeared into the air above the roofs of houses … In 1976, a super-powerful Tien Shan earthquake occurred, during which a light flash was observed hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter …
Gas or electricity?
Most often, such phenomena are explained by the ignition of underground gas. Ufologists associate them with UFOs, especially since in many cases luminous spherical objects are observed … But there is also a hypothesis about underground thunderstorms.
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This theory arose in 1885. In 1903, the scientist Georges Dary, in his book Electricity in All Its Applications, pointed to electricity as the cause of earthquakes. According to the researcher, storms produced by discharges of underground electricity destroy our planet from the inside, just as atmospheric thunderstorms disrupt the structure of the airspace. Often, discharges of electricity accumulate near deposits of chalk, metal and silicon and go out through various cracks, hollows and crevices, intensely shaking the layers of the soil.
Over time, the theory of underground thunderstorms was safely forgotten. However, in the early 1970s. Professor of the Tomsk Polytechnic Institute A. A. Vorobyov tried to experimentally prove its correctness. He suggested that during an underground thunderstorm, as with atmospheric discharges, radio waves are generated. Thus, if it is possible to register them, then this will serve as a confirmation of the hypothesis. The experiments were completed successfully: in different regions of the country it was possible to register the disturbance of the underground radio-magnetic background on the eve of the earthquakes!