Circumhorizontal arc in Taiwan
© Chen Bi-ling
A circumhorizontal arc, also known as a fire rainbow, appeared in the sky over Yilan County on Sunday (June 14).

The curator of the Lanyang Museum, Chen Bi-ling (陳碧琳), captured the natural phenomenon at 5 p.m. near Yilan Interchange and Toucheng Interchange, reported CNA.

According to Chen's Facebook page, three of the fire rainbow pictures were taken by her mobile phone and a drone. The rainbow can be seen clearly in the photos, which quickly drew the public's attention.


Some netizens connected the optical phenomenon with the earthquake that rocked northeastern Taiwan early Sunday morning. However, the director of the Central Weather Bureau in Hsinchu, Tang Shuen-Ran (湯舜然), said the forming of fire rainbows have nothing to do with earthquakes.

Tang told CNA a fire rainbow is the refraction of sunlight or moonlight and only can be formed in the sky up to 6000 meters high, which makes it a very rare occurrence — mostly happening during summer.