The picture shows a locust tree that was split by lightning.
According to an early report, at around 10 a.m. yesterday, a 30-year-old locust tree in the courtyard of a villager's home in Qujialu Village, Yanghe Town, Jiaozhou City, was struck by lightning. The lightning hit the crown part of the locust tree and broke it off, splitting its trunk from top to bottom into two halves. The inside of the trunk was scorched, and the bark was completely blown off. Additionally, the nearby ground was also split open with a large crack. Many villagers witnessed this scene, fortunately without any casualties.
The locust tree was split in half.
At around 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon, the reporter arrived at Mr. Zhu's home in Qujialu Village and saw that the locust tree struck by lightning was about more than 10 meters high and about 20 centimeters in diameter. The crown part was entirely cut off, and a large crack extended downwards from a position about 4 meters above the ground all the way to the root. Inside, it was charred, and the bark was blown off. The reporter noticed that the farthest pieces of bark were found in a villager's house nearly a hundred meters away from the big locust tree. Mr. Zhu told the reporter that there were five locust trees planted in his yard, and the one struck by lightning was the most lush among them.
Fortunately, no one was injured.
Villager Mr. Zhu told the reporter that at around 10 a.m. yesterday, he was chatting with several neighbors under the eaves at home. "We were squatting under the eaves chatting when we suddenly heard thunder and prepared to go back inside. At that moment, we suddenly saw a red flash rushing down towards the big locust tree, followed by a thunderous sound. When we looked again, the bark of the locust tree had been peeled off, and black smoke was rising from inside the tree, which scared us all," said Mr. Zhu. After hearing the explosion, Mr. Zhu nervously went to the scene and saw the locust tree struck by lightning. "Thankfully, there was no one in the yard," Mr. Zhu said fearfully. (Reported and photographed by Mou Chengzi and Sun Qiang)