Was Morocco hit by prophetic “earthquake lights”?

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Was Morocco hit by prophetic “earthquake lights”?
Your thunder rumbled like wheels; lightning lit up the world; the earth quaked and trembled.
PSALMS77:19(THE ISRAEL BIBLE)
Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz
BIBLICAL NEWS
OCTOBER 2, 2023
4 MIN READ
Home » Was Morocco hit by prophetic “earthquake lights”?
While scientists cannot explain the phenomenon, the mysterious lights that sometimes appear preceding major seismic events were explicitly described by King David.

On September 8, a massive earthquake devastated Morocco. While the world’s attention was focused on humanitarian relief efforts, scientists began to study a poorly understood phenomenon known as “earthquake light”. A closer look at the Bible may have helped understand this natural light display that connects heaven and earth.

Morocco suffered a massive 6.8 magnitude earthquake, the most powerful ever recorded in the region, three weeks ago in the province of Al-Haouz. Hitting on September 8, the natural catastrophe killed more than 2,900 people and injured 5,500, and devastated several remote settlements in the Atlas Mountains.

There were also reports of earthquake light sightings (EQL). Also known as earthquake lightning or earthquake flash, this is a luminous aerial phenomenon that appears in the sky at or near areas of tectonic stress, seismic activity, or volcanic eruptions. Sometimes, the lights may appear similar to ordinary lightning, or they may be like a luminous band in the atmosphere akin to a polar aurora. The luminosity is reported to be visible for several seconds but has also been reported to last for tens of minutes. Appearances of the earthquake light seem to occur when the quakes have a high magnitude, generally 5 or higher.

The cause of earthquake lights is unknown. Scientists conjecture that it is due to the ionization of oxygen in certain rocks that may occur during seismic events. Another possible explanation is the local disruption of the Earth’s magnetic field. Scientists are intensely interested in the phenomenon, believing that this may provide more information that will allow seismologists to better predict earthquakes as EQL can appear before the seismic activity.


Earthquake lights are so bizarre and inexplicable that some skeptics even question whether they exist. In 2016, science podcaster Brian Dunning said he was skeptical that the phenomenon even existed, citing a lack of direct evidence. There is also a “staggering volume of literature… hardly any of these papers agree on anything… I’m forced to wonder how many of these eager researchers are familiar with Hyman’s Categorical Imperative ‘Do not try to explain something until you are sure there is something to be explained’.

Since earthquake lights appear in proximity to major seismic events, they are more likely to occur on or near rift valleys, places where, at some point in the past, Earth’s crust had been pulled apart, creating an elongated lowland region that lies between two higher blocks of land.

If this is so, it is almost assured that earthquake lights have made an appearance in the Holy Land. Israel is seismically active, located along the Syrian-African fault line, which runs along the Israel-Jordan border, part of the Great Rift Valley that runs from eastern Lebanon to Mozambique. The Jordan Rift Valley is the result of tectonic movements within the Dead Sea Transform (DSF) fault system. The DSF forms the transform boundary between the African Plate to the west and the Arabian Plate to the east. The Golan Heights and all of Transjordan are part of the Arabian Plate, while the Galilee, Judea and Samaria highlands (West Bank), Coastal Plain, and Negev along with the Sinai Peninsula are on the African Plate. This tectonic disposition leads to a relatively high seismic activity in the region.

The region has experienced many earthquakes, the most destructive ones being those of 31 BCE, 363 CE, 749 CE, and 1033 CE. Some of the earthquakes were also followed by a tsunami.

An earthquake in 1837 in the area killed as many as 5,000 people. The last major earthquake to hit the center of Israel was a 6.2 magnitude quake in 1927, killing over 500 people and damaging sites, like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and al-Aqsa Mosque. On March 22, 2012, a 3.7 earthquake hit the exact region as well.

Biblical scholars explain that the name of God, “Elohim”, refers to the aspect revealed through nature and linked to judgment. For early man, and even today, every natural phenomenon can be an awe-inspiring experience, an occasionally fearsome reminder of our mortality. An earthquake is, quite literally, a moving experience. It may be that when King David wrote Psalms, he was referring to earthquake lights:

Your thunder rumbled like wheels; lightning lit up the world; the earth quaked and trembled. Psalms 77:19

The Sefrei Devarim teaches that when God gave the Torah to Israel at Mount Sinai, He “thundered” the entire world on its inhabitants.” This global earthquake that was accompanied by fire is based on a verse in Psalms:

Your thunder rumbled like wheels; lightning lit up the world; the earth quaked and trembled. Psalms 77:19

The voice of Hashem is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, Hashem, over the mighty waters. Psalms 29:3

Though clearly traumatic, Massive earthquakes in Israel are prophesied to accompany the multinational Gog and Magog conflict that will signal the end of times.

On that day, when Gog sets foot on the soil of Yisrael—declares Hashem—My raging anger shall flare up. For I have decreed in My indignation and in My blazing wrath: On that day, a terrible earthquake shall befall the land of Yisrael. The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that move on the ground, and every human being on earth shall quake before Me. Mountains shall be overthrown, cliffs shall topple, and every wall shall crumble to the ground. Ezekiel 38:18-20

Researchers from Tel Aviv University published a report in Science Advances journal in which they warn that a potentially devastating earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter Scale is expected to hit Israel in the near future. If this proves true, King David’s earthquake lights may make an appearance soon.