Fine structure of G and D bands in Raman spectra of various coals is studied. It is shown that the spectra of all subbituminous and bituminous coals can be decomposed into 5 subcomponents while the spectra of anthracites are best fitted using 2, 3 or 4 subcomponents depending on coal rank. The analysis enabled to separate one subcomponent of D band, probably responsible for imperfections in graphitic clusters, which shows nearly linear shift in the whole metamorphism range and can play role of the coal type indicator. We have found that Raman spectra of the same fat coal reveal one more subcomponent just before underground outburst and only two subcomponents after the outburst. This subcomponent near 1190 cm(-1) is assignable to oscillations of methyl group bonds and probably can serve as the outburst indicator. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.