Rurangi

‘Tēnā te ngaoko nā me te onepū moana’

They shift like the sands of the beach

Early Monday morning much of Aotearoa was woken abruptly to a series of aggressive earthquakes, which changed some of Papatuanuku’s beautiful landscapes forever. But it also lit up Ranginui (sky father) - following the quakes videos began to emerge on Facebook and YouTube of a phenomenon known as earthquake lights in Wellington and Christchurch – this is known by Māori as Rūrangi.

Watch a video of the lights here

Rūrangi

Ngāti Rangi Iwi leader Che Wilson explained that Māori understand the lights as an occurrence between Papatuanuku - earth mother and Ranginui - the sky father. The kōrero is one of many stories and teachings about Te Kāhui o Rū – the group of vibrations, which have been passed down by generations of Ngāti Rangi.

Che Wilson explains that when we see volcanoes exploding, quakes occurring and new islands or hills being created from these forces, that it is the sign of the bond between the earth mother and the sky father, the bond is known as Tahu-ā-rangi.

Rū is said to be the vibration, Rūnuku was its effect on the earth and Rūrangi was the response – the lights.

Lucky for us Ngāti Rangi tūpuna recorded and retained the stories in waiata and karakia so we may value the kōrero from a Māori perspective today.

Western science provides some ideas as to how the lights are occurring.

How does it happen?

Various theories over the past few years propose that earthquake lights are caused by a disruption to the Earth's magnetic field because of the stress on tectonic plates or that rocks composed of quartz are producing voltage when they are squeezed – like in an earthquake. 

A physics professor at San Jose State University has been studying earthquake lights for years and believes that when nature stresses certain rocks, electric charges are activated – just like when you turn on a torch, you ‘activate’ the battery. The result of the ‘battery’ being ‘switched on’ in the Earth's crust (the earthquake) is the light that was seen in the sky.

These glows produced by the earth have been seen in blue, white, purple and pink across the world and some have reported seeing them before, during and after the earthquake has hit due to the electrical conductivity of rocks through the different segments of the earthquake.

The Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa Iwi Trust send their thoughts out to the families impacted by Monday morning’s quake and the people of Kaikoura, Culverden and other nearby towns who continue to deal with the effects of departing tourists and countless landslides slowing the delivery of necessary resources.

Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui

Be strong, be brave, be steadfast