Thunderquakes Let Us Find Secrets Underground

 

Scientists are using thunderquakes to see what’s hidden underground… When lightning strikes, it heats up the air around it, creating a shockwave that you hear as thunder.

When that energy hits the ground, some of it turns into seismic ripples in the dirt and rock…

These ripples penetrate the surface, so to listen to them, scientists used buried internet cables. By recording lots of thunderquake ripples, they can X-ray the earth!

And they’re trying to use this idea to see below the surface of other planets. To see more, subscribe!

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DviPg66uW9U?feature=share

Thunderquakes are tiny seismic vibrations created when acoustic shock waves from lightning and thunder hit the ground and convert into ground motion. [1, 2]

How They Work

• Atmospheric Coupling: Lightning superheats the surrounding air, creating a massive pressure wave that travels through the air and impacts the Earth's surface. [1, 2, 3]

• Seismic Conversion: When that energy hits the ground, it turns into Rayleigh waves and other seismic ripples that move through soil and rock. [1, 2]

• Detection: Researchers capture these signals using buried telecommunication or internet fiber-optic cables via Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS). Lasers track microscopic stretches in the glass fibers caused by the underground vibrations. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Applications and Uses

• Subsurface "X-Rays": By analyzing thunderquake data (such as a 2026 Penn State study tracking 458 recorded thunderquakes), scientists can map underground geology down to about 100 meters. [1, 2]

• Hazard Detection: The technique helps identify hidden weak zones, limestone caverns, fractures, groundwater movement, and potential sinkholes without needing explosives or heavy seismic trucks. [1, 2, 3]

• Urban and Extraterrestrial Mapping: Because it piggybacks on existing fiber infrastructure, it provides passive imaging in cities, remote locations, the Arctic, or even other planets with lightning. [1, 2]

 

 

What Do Christian Crosses On Maps Represent?

 

Crosses on maps most commonly represent churches or places of worship, spot elevations (an "X" marking a specific ground height), or monuments and wind pumps depending on the specific style and region of the map.

 

 

 

the location of a Christian church, chapel, or place of worship. [1]

 

 

Giovanni Da Verrazzano Map (1529)

One Cross Symbol found on the Newfoundland-Labrador territory

Giacomo Gastaldi and Jacque Cartier Map (1548)

One Cross Symbol found on Newfoundland-Labrador, located at the bottom right of the map

Does a Christian/Catholic Cross Symbol on the Giovanni Da Verrazzano Map (1529) and the Giacomo Gastaldi and Jacques Cartier Map (1548) prove that the Italian Friars, Giovanni Antonio Carbonara and Giovanni Caboto established the first Church on the New World in 1498?

Likely yes. Church located in Newfoundland-Labrador area.

 

Crosses on historical maps generally serve distinct navigational, exploratory, or religious functions, depending entirely on the era and type of chart:

 

1. Limits of Personal Exploration

On exploration-era manuscripts, crosses often marked the exact boundary where a primary explorer's firsthand knowledge ended and secondhand information began. [1]

 

• Captain John Smith's 1612 Map of Virginia: Smith scattered 27 Maltese crosses across his chart of the Chesapeake Bay. The map's legend explicitly states that everything up to the crosses was discovered firsthand, while anything beyond them was drawn based entirely on information supplied by Native Americans. [1]
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• Antonio Pigafetta's Chronicles (1520s): In early charts tracking Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation, crosses were used to document newly claimed territories or where significant cultural encounters—such as planting physical wooden crosses or holding the first Easter masses—took place, most notably marking locations like Cebu in the Philippines. [1, 2, 3]

 

One Cross Symbol found on Zzubu (Cebu) Island, Philippines

 

One Cross Symbol found on Mazaua(Limasawa) Island, Philippines

 

In Antonio Pigafetta’s 23 hand-drawn, illuminated color maps from his journal detailing Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation, crosses hold significant geographical and historical meaning. His maps (such as those found in the French Beinecke MS 351 and Italian Ambrosiana manuscript versions) use Christian cross symbols primarily to mark islands where Christian milestones occurred or locations where physical crosses were erected. [1, 2, 3, 4]

 

The historical context of these symbols reveals two primary uses:

 

1. Marking the First Christian Milestones in the Philippines

 

Pigafetta prominently features a cross on his sketch maps of the Philippine archipelago, specifically around islands visited in March and April 1521: [1, 2]

• The Island of Mazaua (Limasawa): Pigafetta’s journal records that on Easter Sunday (March 31, 1521), Magellan ordered the first Catholic mass by the shore. Following the mass, Magellan and local kings carried a large wooden cross to the summit of the highest hill overlooking the island. On Pigafetta’s corresponding sketch map of Mazaua, a stylized Christian cross is distinctly drawn on the island to document this event. [1, 2, 3]
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• The Island of Zzubu (Cebu): Pigafetta also draws a cross on his map representing Cebu to commemorate the widespread baptisms of the local ruler, Rajah Humabon, and his followers. This marks the location where the historic Magellan's Cross was physically planted on the shore. [1, 2]

2. Identifying Safe Refuges and Christian Sovereignty

 

Beyond documenting specific events, early Renaissance explorers like Pigafetta used crosses as map markers to serve practical navigation purposes:

 

• "Good Signs" and Safe Anchorages: Crosses often signified safe havens, standard provisions, or places friendly to European ships. For instance, Pigafetta noted Humunu (Homonhon) as the "watering place of good signs," where the crew recovered from scurvy and found early signs of gold. [1, 2, 3]
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• Territorial Proclamation: Planting a physical cross on an island and mirroring it on an official log map served as a symbolic proclamation of Spanish imperial influence and the introduction of Catholicism under the Treaty of Tordesillas. [1]

• Butuan Claim: The First Mass in the Philippines (1521) Evidence Analysis

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• Antonio Pigafetta (1521, Magellan’s
  Chronicler)
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  From his Primo viaggio intorno al
  mondo (First Voyage the World):
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  On Saturday, the last of March, around
  we arrived at a small island called Mazaua.
  The king of that island came immediately in a
  boat to the ship, and he was very joyous at
  our coming. He took us to his house, where
  he gave us rice, fish, and wine. The following
  day, which was Sunday, Easter day, the
  captain had mass said on the shore. After the mass was said, he had a cross carried in
  procession.”
  Key details: Pigafetta calls the place Mazaua, about 9° N latitude. Mass was held onshore,
  beside the king’s house, not on a mountain. Butuan is near 9° N, and was known for kings and
  gold trade.
  Francisco Albo (Pilot of the Trinidad) From his Logbook (published in Martín Fernández de
  Navarrete’s Colección de los viages, 1837):
  “We went to another small island, called Mazava, where we anchored. The island lies in 9
  degrees 20 minutes of latitude. There we found a chief of another island, which is called Butuan
  and Calaghan, who was the seignior of the same. There they made peace. On Sunday of
  Resurrection, the captain had mass said, and a cross was set up.”
  Key details: Albo places Mazaua at 9°20′ N*(Butuan latitude). He explicitly links Mazaua’s
  ruler to Butuan and Calaghan. Confirms Easter Sunday mass with cross planting.
  Why this favors Butuan: Both testimonies fix Mazaua around 9° N latitude Butuan, not
  Limasawa. Albo directly connects Mazaua’s ruler to Butuan. Pigafetta and Albo agree the First
  Mass happened there on Easter (March 31, 1521)
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• Butuan Claim: The First Mass in the Philippines (1521) Evidence Analysis - Studocu