This burst of electromagnetic energy was produced by complex interactions between conflicting magnetic fields reaching across the region and between the individual sunspots within it. The energy of a solar flare is not directional. A flare occurring anywhere on the hemisphere of the Sun facing Earth is "Earth directed".

The energy raced at the speed of light across the solar system in an ever widening hemispherical shell. It arrived at Earth a bit more than 8 minutes after leaving the Sun. Flashing unaffected through the shell of the magnetosphere, the powerful radio waves were still intense enough to produce a burst of VHF radio noise on the daylit side of the planet (Asia and Australia) temporarily interfering with communications. The ultraviolet and x-ray radiation struck the upper atmosphere, ripping electrons from their atoms. This ionization can, if strong enough, cause problems for satellite communications but it also can strengthen the reflectivity of the ionosphere, allowing ham radio operators in the high frequency bands to communicate over long distances for a while afterward.

At about the same time the flare occurred and eruption of material from Sun's corona was hurled into space by the same release of magnetic forces which produced the flare. Unlike the flare, this fast moving cloud of hot ions (plasma) was sent in a particular direction away from the Sun. This CME (coronal mass ejection) was directed toward Earth. We know this because of the expanding halo of material which can be seen in the coronograph images from the SOHO satellite which lies on a direct line between the Sun and the Earth. Because the expanding material forms a complete circle, spreading evenly, the cloud must be moving directly toward us.