A method for determining the distance to electrical faults in electrical power networks, the method being accomplished in the time domain, the method comprising: receiving a sinusoidal electrical input over a plurality of electrical power lines in an electrical power network ; determining a plurality of nominal electrical parameters for the electrical power network having a source voltage , the plurality of nominal electrical parameters associated with a state of the electrical power network in the absence of at least one transitory sub-cycle electrical fault in the network ; subsequently sampling a plurality of faulted electrical parameters of the electrical input when the at least one transitory sub-cycle electrical fault exists in form of a line-to-ground fault and/or a line-to-line fault in the network ; determining a plurality of net fault electrical parameters for the electrical power network , each of the net fault electrical parameters being a difference between one of the plurality of nominal electrical parameters and an associated one of the faulted electrical parameters; determining a plurality of inductances based on a comparison of the nominal electrical parameters and the plurality of sampled electrical parameters based on obtaining and analyzing an equivalent circuit of the electrical power network , wherein the equivalent circuit is obtained in part by injecting a fictitious voltage of the same but negative polarity of the nominal value at an imaginary fault location and by ignoring the source, the plurality of inductances being representative of inductances present in the network when the at least one transitory sub-cycle electrical fault exists in the network ; analyzing the plurality of inductances to determine a distance to the at least one electrical fault based on applying a time domain differential equation to the plurality of inductances and the plurality of sampled electrical parameters, the distance being determined regardless of an existence of prior information corresponding to the electrical power network. receiving a sinusoidal electrical input over a plurality of electrical power lines in an electrical power network ; determining a plurality of nominal electrical parameters for the electrical power network having a source voltage , the plurality of nominal electrical parameters associated with a state of the electrical power network in the absence of at least one transitory sub-cycle electrical fault in the network ; subsequently sampling a plurality of faulted electrical parameters of the electrical input when the at least one transitory sub-cycle electrical fault exists in form of a line-to-ground fault and/or a line-to-line fault in the network ; determining a plurality of net fault electrical parameters for the electrical power network , each of the net fault electrical parameters being a difference between one of the plurality of nominal electrical parameters and an associated one of the faulted electrical parameters; determining a plurality of inductances based on a comparison of the nominal electrical parameters and the plurality of sampled electrical parameters based on obtaining and analyzing an equivalent circuit of the electrical power network , wherein the equivalent circuit is obtained in part by injecting a fictitious voltage of the same but negative polarity of the nominal value at an imaginary fault location and by ignoring the source, the plurality of inductances being representative of inductances present in the network when the at least one transitory sub-cycle electrical fault exists in the network ; analyzing the plurality of inductances to determine a distance to the at least one electrical fault based on applying a time domain differential equation to the plurality of inductances and the plurality of sampled electrical parameters, the distance being determined regardless of an existence of prior information corresponding to the electrical power network. <EOS>