Time difference correlation between earthquake lights and seismic ground accelerations
Juan Antonio Lira 1,2 and Maurizio Mulas 3
1. Facultad de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima 1, Peru.
2. Sección Física, Departamento Académico de Ciencias, Pontifi cia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima 32, Peru.
3. Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Facultad de Ingeniería en Ciencias de la Tierra, Campus Gustavo Galindo Km 30.5 Vía Perimetral, P.O. Box 09-01-5863
Abstract Although earthquake lights have been known since ancient times, it has not been easy to study them. It was not until the 60s that the first photographs of them were taken. During the Peruvian earthquake in 2007, it was possible to obtain the first film recording on earthquake lights. Likewise, during the earthquakes in Ecuador in 2016 and in Mexico in 2017, two films of the earthquake lights were recorded. These film recordings have helped in the study of earthquake lights, both for their objectivity and for their informational content. Several causal mechanisms have been proposed to explain earthquake lights: piezoelectricity, radon emanation, fluid diffusion, friction-vaporization, positive holes and dipole currents, among others. In this work a time difference correlation between earthquake lights and seismic ground accelerations was found and we use both seismic data and film recordings of earthquake lights to explain its origin. In the discussion section it is suggested that fracturing of rocks manifest itself to some extent in the form of static electricity producing earthquake lights through induction The induction model proposed is new and it can explain the formation of EQL, even if the earth’s crust has layers of large electrical resistivity. The model also explains the formation of seismic lights without the need for special conditions on the earth’s surface or in the atmosphere. A better understanding of the earthquake lights generation process can improve our understanding of seismicity and help in the prediction of earthquakes.
Corresponding Authors: Juan Antonio Lira (E-mail: jlirac@unmsm.edu.pe).
E-mail: jlirac@unmsm.edu.pe
About author: Antonio Lira is a professor at the Department of Solid State Physics at the Major National University of San Marcos and at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. . Lira received a Ph.D. in Solid State Physics from Bonn University (Germany). . His main research interests include Physics of the Solid Earth and Electromagnetic Monitoring for Pre-Earthqake Signals. E-mail: jlirac@unmsm.edu.pe
Maurizio Mulas, geologist, he graduated from University of Cagliari (Italy) with a B.Sc in Earth Sciences in 2005 and a Master’s degree in Geological Sciences from University of Cagliari (Italy) in 2008 and a PhD in Earth Sciences in 2013. He is now working as Associate Professor in the Faculty of engineering in Earth Sciences (FICT) of Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL) of Guayaquil (Ecuador), engaged in geological risk research. His main research interests include geological hazard and geological risk. E-mail: mmulas@espol.edu.ec
Cite this article:
. Time difference correlation between earthquake lights and seismic ground accelerations[J]. APPLIED GEOPHYSICS, 2021, 18(1): 9-16.
2021, Vol. 18 
