AN 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook Acapulco this Tuesday night, in southern Mexico, and caused the death of at least one person. However, the attention of the press and social media took some amazing flashes in the sky, similar to lightning, which occurred in the center. On the streets, frightened residents managed to capture the moment with their cell phones.
what are the flashes from mexico
The earthquake lights correspond to an unusual luminous aerial phenomenon, similar in appearance to an aurora borealis, which appears in the sky above or near areas where there is tectonic stress, seismic activity, or volcanic eruptions.
They were first documented in the 1600s, according to a report by the American Seismological Association.
They are especially visible at night. Although there are several hypotheses that try to scientifically explain this phenomenon, there is still no fully convincing interpretation of this.
According to researchers at Rutgers University, in the United States, These flashes of light occur because landslides near Earth faults can generate an electrical charge.
Experiments done by the laboratory at Rutgers University suggest that these lights originate from large increase in electrical charge on the ground when the ground breaks. These earthquake lights can be produced before or during earthquakes.
Earthquakes that curiously coincide
On September 7, 2017, Mexico lived the biggest earthquake in the last 100 years: a magnitude 8.2 earthquake that left the loss of human life and various damage to the isthmus of Oaxaca.
This earthquake left terrible damage in the central states of the country. Some independent bodies calculated the losses between $4 billion and $8 billion.
A week later, on September 19, 2017, the misfortune that Mexico City had experienced 32 years earlier was repeated, on the same day in 1985. The latter is considered one of the strongest in the history of Mexico.
The exact number of deaths, injuries and property damage has never been precisely known. As for the deceased, there are only estimates: 3,192 was the official number, while 20,000 was the data resulting from the calculations of some organizations.
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