Tangshan China

The 6/5/77 New York Times described the great earthquake, which destroyed Tangshan, and killed over 650,000 people: "Just before the first tremor at 3:42am, the sky lit up like daylight. The multi-hued lights, mainly white and red, were seen up to 200 miles away. Leaves on many trees were burned to a crisp and growing vegetables were scorched on one side, as if by a fireball."