Pulsed‐radiation‐induced current in crystalline and fused quartz was studied by using 5‐&mgr;sec pulses of electrons with an energy of 13 MeV and a current density of about 100 mA/cm2peak and a few &mgr;A/cm2average. The pulse shape of the induced current varied remarkably with time within a few minutes of irradiation and also with the temperature of the sample. The variation in shape showed a dependence on crystal orientation of the sample. The effect of the field of the internal space charge was found to be neglibible in the observed phenomena. A qualitative explanation is applied to part of the results in terms of an interaction between excited carriers and traps.