# Lightning strike in Peru - people falling over
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-strike-in-peru-people-falling-over/1009827
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 7, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-strike-in-peru-people-falling-over/1009827 "2024-11-07T00:45:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-strike-in-peru-people-falling-over/1009827/1 "2024-11-07T00:45:47Z")
Video here:
> **[Lightning kills player during soccer match in Peru, local media reports](https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/11/4/lightning-kills-player-during-soccer-match-in-peru-1229)**
>
> A Peruvian local league soccer player from Familia Chocca team was killed by a lightning strike on Sunday (November 3) during a match in Huancayo.
When the lightning hits (and kills) the player, a number of other players quite far away also fall over. Is this because of the potential difference as the lightning bolt dissipates in the ground? It seems like they are pretty far away to be affected by that.
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### Author:  [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2024, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-strike-in-peru-people-falling-over/1009827/2 "2024-11-07T03:52:44Z")
Yes, it’s [ground current](https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-struck) as described here.
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2024, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-strike-in-peru-people-falling-over/1009827/3 "2024-11-07T10:09:27Z")
> [@DMC](#):
>
> es, it’s [ground current](https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-struck) as described here.
The usual term is step voltage, i.e. the voltage between two points a step apart. It matters for lightning strikes, but also for malfunctioning electrical equipment that’s applying high voltage to the ground:
> **[Earth potential rise |](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_potential_rise#Step_voltage)**
>
> "Touch voltage" is the voltage between the energized object and the feet of a person in contact with the object. It is equal to the difference in voltage between the object and a point some distance away. The touch voltage could be nearly the full voltage across the grounded object if that object is grounded at a point remote from the place where the person is in contact with it. For example, a crane that was grounded to the system neutral and that contacted an energized line would expose any per...
> “Step voltage” is the voltage between the feet of a person standing near an energized grounded object. It is equal to the difference in voltage, given by the voltage distribution curve, between two points at different distances from the “electrode”. A person could be at risk of injury during a fault simply by standing near the grounding point.
Step voltage is one of the ways that people standing under trees get killed when lightning strikes the tree. The current flows down through the tree trunk and dissipates radially through the earth, creating a step voltage that electrocutes anyone standing close to the tree without the lightning ever actually having struck the victims directly.
It’s also how large herds of animals can be killed with a single lightning strike:
> **['Landscape of fear': what a mass of rotting reindeer carcasses taught scientists](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/08/landscape-of-fear-what-the-rotting-carcasses-of-reindeer-taught-scientists-aoe)**
>
> When 323 reindeer were killed by lightning on a remote Norwegian plateau, their bodies were left for nature to take its course
> [@beowulff](#):
>
> Is this because of the potential difference as the lightning bolt dissipates in the ground? It seems like they are pretty far away to be affected by that.
This speaks to the extremely high voltages and currents that are present in lightning strikes. We build electrical machinery that operates at tens or hundreds of thousands of volts, but lightning operates in the range of millions of volts.
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [November 7, 2024, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-strike-in-peru-people-falling-over/1009827/4 "2024-11-07T12:24:16Z")
I can’t see any video at the OP’s link, so here’s a direct YouTube link.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN6nZdhqW3M)