Yep... It's another conundrum. Thought I'd sneak this one in before turning in. Gee...hope I don't awake thinking somebody turned the roomlights on ! That's a lot of energy (other than the lightbulb)...see link.

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One of the strongest earthquake illuminations came during Chinese earthquake of 1976, when it was reported that the lights at the centre of the earthquake were bright enough to turn night into day. As far as 320 kilometres from the epicenter of the quake people woke up thinking their room lights had been turned on.

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Fireballs a few metres in diameter often popped out of the ground in a repetitive manner at distances of up to only a few metres away from the observers. Others were seen several hundred metres up in the sky, stationary or moving. Some observers described dripping luminescent droplets, rapidly disappearing a few metres under the stationary fireballs. Only two fire-tongues on the ground were reported, one on snow and the other on a paved parking space without any apparent surface fissure. The colours most often identified were orange, yellow, white and green. Some luminosities lasted up to 12 min.

Flashes of light were widely reported before the 1995 earthquake at Kobe, Japan:

Some residents of Kobe and nearby cities saw aurora-like phenomena in the sky just before and after the quake.

A Kobe firefighter observed a bluish-orange light above a shaking road that lasted about 4 seconds.

A hotel employee on his way to work on Rokko mountain: "saw a flash running from east to west about two to three meters above the ground shortly after the quake. The orange flash was framed in white."

Flashes of light were widely observed.

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==> re: The orange flash was framed in white."

This indicates to me that the temperature was hotter on the outside of the flash (white frame) than on the inside.

Just more food for thought....

• Earthquake Lights (Mystery)