First came the Doomsday Fish, now the sky is flashing. What are Earthquake Lights? Discover the science behind the blue flashes seen before major quakes. #WeirdScience
By TheLastUpdates Editorial Team | December 25, 2025
First, the Doomsday Fish rise from the deep. Then, the sky turns violent.
If you thought the giant Oarfish washing up in Japan were the only warning sign nature gives us, look up. There is a phenomenon even stranger, faster, and more terrifying than deep-sea monsters.
It is called Earthquake Lights (EQL), and for decades, scientists dismissed it as a UFO conspiracy theory. But in the era of smartphone cameras and dashboard videos, we finally have proof that the sky literally “bleeds” electricity before the ground breaks.
What Are Earthquake Lights?
Imagine standing on your balcony at night. Suddenly, the horizon flashes bright blue, then purple, then white. It looks like a silent lightning storm, but there are no clouds. Five seconds later, the ground throws you off your feet.
This is the classic description of Earthquake Lights.
They appear as glowing orbs, ribbons of blue flame, or massive flashes of sheet lightning that seem to come from the ground up, rather than the sky down.
-
Mexico City (2021): The sky turned apocalyptic blue and green during a 7.0 magnitude quake.
-
Morocco (2023): Surveillance cameras captured mysterious blasts of light milliseconds before the devastating Al Haouz quake.
-
Japan (2024): Witnesses reported “glowing clouds” just before the shaking started.
The Science: Why Does the Sky Glow?
For years, skeptics claimed these lights were just exploding power transformers. But a study by geophysicist Friedemann Freund offers a much weirder explanation.
The leading theory involves “Positive Holes.” When rocks like basalt and gabbro are crushed under extreme pressure (like tectonic plates grinding together), they release electrical charges. These charges travel up through the rock at supersonic speeds.
When they hit the surface, they ionize the air, turning the atmosphere into a massive neon sign. Essentially, Earthquake Lights are the Earth turning itself into a giant battery. The ground is literally “stressing out” so hard that it glows.
The Earthquake Lights vs. The Doomsday Fish
Why are we talking about this now? Because of the “Cluster Effect.”
Yesterday, we reported on the appearance of 5 giant Oarfish in Japan (the Doomsday Fish). These creatures react to chemical changes in the water. Earthquake Lights, on the other hand, are the electrical symptom of the same problem.
When you see both occurring in the same week biological panic in the ocean and electrical anomalies in the sky it suggests that the tectonic pressure is reaching a breaking point.
Can We Use Them to Predict the “Big One”?
Currently, Earthquake Lights are not a perfect warning system because they usually happen only seconds before the quake.
However, some anomalies, like “glowing balls of gas,” have been spotted weeks in advance. In ancient texts, these were often mistaken for spirits or dragons. Today, AI systems are being trained to watch live webcams for these specific blue spectrum flashes.
If the AI sees the “Blue Flash,” it could trigger an alarm seconds before the seismic waves hit, potentially saving thousands of lives.
The Verdict: Nature’s Warning System
We live in a world where we rely on apps and sensors. But nature has its own notification system. The Doomsday Fish warn us from the trench. The Earthquake Lights warn us from the atmosphere.
The question isn’t whether nature is speaking to us. The question is: Are we looking in the right direction to see it?
The warning signs are piling up. The sky is flashing blue, but something even stranger is happening in the ocean. The “Messengers of the Sea God” have risen.
👉 Read Previous: [The Doomsday Fish Returns: Why 5 Giant Oarfish Just Washed Up in Japan]