It was 6:30 in the evening on Tuesday, June 30 when the entire sky over Caracas turned an almost apocalyptic red. 🌅 Just six days earlier, two earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 had shaken Venezuela, so many saw the phenomenon as a bad omen.
But there was nothing supernatural about it. Meteorologist Rubén Capote called it “candilazo”, the popular name for Rayleigh scattering: when the Sun is low on the horizon, its light passes through more atmosphere and the red tones intensify. Dust from the Sahara and moisture in the air would have done the rest, also painting the skies of Carabobo and Anzoátegui.
Astronomer Edward Bloomer, from the Royal Museums Greenwich, was blunt: pure optics, zero connection to the earthquakes. Even so, the images traveled around the world while rescue teams continued working on the ground. 🇻🇪
