You Stand near the Earth's Equator

You stand near the earth's equator. A positively charged particle that starts moving parallel to the surface of the earth in a straight line directed east is initially deflected upwards. If you know there are no electric fields in the vicinity, a possible reason why the particle does not initially acquire a downward component of velocity is because near the equator the magnetic field lines of the earth are directed

A) upward.
B) downward.
C) from south to north.
D) from north to south.
E) from east to west.