Saturday, June 29, 2013

Week of 6/23/13 to 6/29/13




June 29, 2013 SPACE - Launched 36 years ago, the Voyager 1 spacecraft speeds a rate of about a million miles a day entering a bizarre and mysterious region more than 11 billion miles from Earth that scientists are struggling to make sense of. It's a region where the fierce solar winds have all but vanished and pieces of atoms blasted across the galaxy by ancient supernovae drift into the solar system, the NASA probe is causing scientists to question some long-standing theories on the nature of our solar system and life beyond its cold dark edge dubbed the “magnetic highway” --a newly discovered area of the heliosphere, the vast bubble of magnetism that shields the solar system from deadly cosmic rays. Scientists had long envisioned this outermost layer of the solar systems, the heliosheath, to be a curved, distinct boundary separating the solar system from the rest of the Milky Way where three things would happen: The sun's solar winds would become quiet; galactic cosmic rays would bombard Voyager; and the direction of the dominant magnetic field would change significantly because it would be coming from interstellar space, not the sun. “The models that have been thought to predict what should happen are all incorrect,” said physicist Stamatios Krimigis of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Scientists had assumed when Voyager exited the heliosphere, the vast bubble of magnetism surrounding the solar system, solar winds would become still, galactic cosmic rays would bombard Voyager from every angle and the direction of the magnetic field would change because it would be coming from interstellar space, not the sun.

But the latest readings from Voyagers instruments support none of those suppositions, scientists said. Voyager has reported solar winds suddenly dropped by half, while the strength of the magnetic field almost doubled, and those values then switched back and forth five times before they became fixed. “The jumps indicate multiple crossings of a boundary unlike anything observed previously,” a team of Voyager scientists wrote in one a study. Voyager did detect the expected increase in galactic cosmic rays but found at times the rays were moving in parallel instead of traveling randomly. “This was conceptually unthinkable for cosmic rays,” Stamatios Krimigis, a solar physicist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., told the Los Angeles Times. “There is no cosmic ray physicist I know who ever expected that they would not all be coming equally from all directions.” Whether Voyager 1 -- which launched in 1977 -- has truly left the solar system has been a matter of some debate, because scientists have come up with competing theories on what constitutes in outermost edge. “We're not free yet,” Krimigis said. “This is a new region that we didn't know existed. We have no road map, and we're waiting to see what's going to happen next.” –Daily Galaxy



June 29, 2013SPACE - EARTH-DIRECTED CME:  When the current spate of geomagnetic storms is over, another could follow close on its heels. A coronal mass ejection (CME), pictured below, is expected to deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field late on June 30th or early on July 31st. The cloud was propelled in our direction during the early hours of June 28th when magnetic filaments around sunspot AR1777 erupted. The explosion registered approximately C4 on the Richter Scale of Solar Flares. Because the CME is not heading squarely toward Earth, there is still a chance that it will miss. Stay tuned for updates as the arrival time approaches. – Space Weather


June 28, 2013 NICARAUGA - A new earthquake swarm started this morning, visible on INETER’s seismograms. Telica has six cones, the tallest of which is 1061 meters high. There is a double crater at the top, 700 meters wide and 120 meters deep. Telica has erupted frequently since the Spanish Era. The most recent eruption was in 2011. In terms of explosive force, Telica’s largest eruption has been rated with a VEI of 4. That eruption occurred in 1529. One of Nicaragua’s most active volcanoes, Telica has erupted frequently, and ash from those frequent eruptions keeps the slopes of its cone bare of vegetation.  –Volcano Discovery, Wikipedia

A trio of forces at play: A Supermoon, a geomagnetic storm from a CME, and the advent of the summer solstice- did these forces create a energy shift in planetary processes within Earth’s interior? Volcanoes across the planet have suddenly become more agitated.
June 28, 2013MEXICO - Seismic activity has picked up, suggesting that the volcano could be headed for more vigorous activity soon. SO2 emissions on NOAA recent satellite data have been relatively high as well. A magnitude 3.6 volcanic quake occurred on Tuesday night 23:57 local time and was located SE of the crater at 2 km depth. Over 3 hours of low frequency and short amplitude tremor were recorded. An earthquake swarms occurred yesterday as well and another one seems to have started an hour ago. The rate of small to moderate steam and ash explosions was reported to about 2 per hour during yesterday, with ash plumes reaching up to 1-2 km height above the crater. Ashfall has been reported at Tepetlixpa and Ecatzingo. On 25 June, with the support of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Navy of México, a reconnaissance flight over Popocatepetl´s crater was carried out. It could be observed that the inner crater has grown to 250 m in diameter and 60 m depth, as a result of the explosions of recent days. No other changes could be seen. (CENAPRED) – Volcano Discovery
MANILA, Philippines – Growing unrest is being reported at Taal Volcano in Batangas. The volcano appears to becoming more agitated. It has been shaken by 15 volcanic earthquakes in the past 24 hours. According to the Philippine Volcanic and Seismology (Phivolcs), there was also a slight increase of water level in the crater of the volcano. Ground deformation is also being reported on one flank of the volcano. A 6 km exclusion zone has been set up around the volcano to protect locals from any sudden, unexpected eruptions from the volcano. –Philstar

June 28, 2013 ALASKA - Alaska volcano eruptions are entering a more powerful phase. After six weeks of Alaska volcano eruptions reaching five miles into the sky, covering nearby communities with ash and shutting down air flights, there looks to be no end. Alaska volcano eruptions 2013 started in May at the Pavlof Volcano, which is located about 590 miles southwest of the major city Anchorage, in the Alaska Peninsula. The most powerful phase of Alaska volcano eruptions started with low-level rumblings. According to scientists at the federal-state Alaska Volcano Observatory, the latest phase of Alaska volcano eruptions started late on Monday and continued through the night into Tuesday. The blasts emanate from the crater of a 8,261 foot volcano. Tina Neal, an geologist at the observatory said, “For some reason we can’t explain, it picked up in intensity and vigor.’ In May, Alaska volcano eruptions sent a smaller ash cloud 15,000 feet into the air. The ash was visible for miles. Residents were worried that it would damage power generators. The ash plume has so far topped of at an altitude of 28,000 feet, which is too low in the air to affect major air traffic.

June 28, 2013 KAMCHATKARussia’s northernmost active volcano churned out ash to a height of up to 7,000 meters (almost 23,000 feet) in the country’s Far East, local Emergencies Ministry’s department reported on Friday. The 3,283-meter (10,771 feet) Shiveluch volcano increased activity in May 2009 and has been periodically spewing ash from three to ten kilometers. “Considering the direction and the force of wind, the cloud of ash moved to the southwest and dissipated without having reached residential areas,” the department said in a statement. Although the current eruption poses no immediate threat to nearby settlements, the ensuing ash fallouts could be hazardous to health and the environment. The clouds of volcanic ash could also pose threat to air traffic because the tiny particles cause problems with aircraft engine turbines. There are more than 150 volcanoes on Kamchatka and up to 30 of them are active. –RIA Novosti

June 27, 2013ARIZONATemperatures will be at full throttle later this week over the interior West, reaching dangerous levels, challenging records and elevating the wildfire threat. While many folks over the interior West are accustomed to and expect hot weather during the summer the developing pattern will take the heat to the extreme. In some cities record highs for any date throughout the year could be equaled or breached. The weather this week will favor an expanding area of sunshine and building heat over the West. As temperatures soar to record-challenging levels, dry fuel and the potential for spotty dry thunderstorms will push the wildfire threat to new areas and raise the risk in other locations. Once the pattern sets up, the heat wave will last through next week in many areas. Grassy and wooded areas that are green now may become dry fuel for fires as the atmosphere heats up. Cities that will experience record-challenging heat on a daily basis during the pattern into next week include Las Vegas, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Denver, Boise, Idaho, Rawlins, Wyo., Accuweather

June 27, 2013CHINA - Shanghai health officials today reported another death from the H7N9 flu virus, in a man whose infection was first announced in early April and whose wife was among the first in the city to die from the disease. The 56-year-old man whose surname was Gu died early this morning, raising the number of outbreak fatalities in China to 40, according to a report from Xinhua, China’s state news agency. His case had been confirmed on Apr 11. The man’s 52-year-old wife died from an H7N9 infection on Apr 3, according to previous reports. Family-cluster infections aren’t surprising in outbreak settings and can result from common exposures or human-to-human contact. So far the man and his wife are the only known couple to be infected in the outbreak.  -CIDRAP

June 27, 2013SPACENASA said the 10,000th near-Earth object (NEO) has been discovered using the Pan-STARRS-1 telescope in Hawaii. Astronomers spotted asteroid 2013 MZ5 on the night of June 18, marking a significant milestone for the NEO search. The space agency said 90 percent of all NEOs discovered were first detected by NASA-supported surveys. “But there are at least 10 times that many more to be found before we can be assured we will have found any and all that could impact and do significant harm to the citizens of Earth,” said Lindley Johnson, program executive for NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington. Red Orbit

June 26, 2013ALASKATwo Alaskan volcanoes that began minor eruptions weeks ago are showing their strongest seismic activity yet, emitting small amounts of lava and ash along with smoke plumes, the Alaska Volcano Observatory said Tuesday. The observatory warned of more vigorous activity with the Pavlof and Veniaminof volcanoes, both on the Alaskan Peninsula — though that will likely just mean more ash. Pavlof, a snow-covered, cone-shaped mountain, has been erupting since early May.  -CNN

June 26, 2013ARIZONAA ridge of high pressure will cause elevated temperatures across most of the Western United States, from Arizona and California, northward to the US/Canada border.  This also may bring the first monsoon storms to the region as this abnormally large ridge of high pressure takes hold. It’s that time of the year again, where a hot desert meets the Summer. Temperatures in the 100s across Phoenix will turn to 115+, with 120+ along the Colorado River Valley as a ridge of high pressure builds in the area. This ridge will be very large, bringing temperatures 15-20 degrees higher than normal for Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, New Mexico, and Utah.   –Weather Space

June 25, 2013SINGAPORE - The National Environment Agency (NEA) has confirmed that the hail that some residents, particularly those living in the western parts of Singapore experienced, is not caused by the cloud seeding in Indonesia. It said in a briefing on Tuesday evening, that clouds do not travel that far and the clouds would be going in the wrong direction if it was related as the wind is currently blowing the haze away from Singapore. Asked if the hail was related to the haze, NEA would only say that it was a possibility but could not give a confirmation. It added that the heavy downpour on Tuesday afternoon was not toxic. Wednesday’s forecast was still likely to be “unhealthy” even though the current PSI reading is in the “moderate” range. This is because the PM2.5 reading is in the “unhealthy” range.
      

 
June 25, 2013MECCASaudi Arabia reported nine new MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases in the past 3 days, including six cases that were asymptomatic. In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Jun 22 that two Saudi MERS cases that had been announced earlier were also asymptomatic. The Saudi and WHO reports offered the clearest evidence yet of such cases, which suggest the possibility that people can unknowingly carry and spread the virusCIDRAP      

Storm systems growing more intense: A radar image of the storm complex that may have caused the East Coast tsunami
June 25, 2013 NEW JERSEY - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says a 6-foot wave that hit the East Coast earlier this month was a rare tsunami. The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said the source of the wave is “complex and under review,” but they believe it was caused by a strong storm and perhaps even the “the slumping at the continental shelf east of New Jersey.” The weather service says that Brian Coen, who was spear fishing near Barnegat Inlet in New Jersey, saw the effect of the tsunami first hand. He told the weather service that he noticed an outgoing tide that lasted a couple of minutes and exposed rocks that had been submerged. That was followed by a big six-foot wave. The Asbury Park Press, which covers the Jersey coast, talked to Paul Whitmore, director of the tsunami center. He explained the weather system that moved through the area may have changed the air pressure enough to “generate waves that act just like tsunamis.” When that happens, the wave is called a ‘meteotsunami” — in other words a tsunami caused by meteorological conditions, not seismic activity.  -NPR                      

June 25, 2013INDIA - The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has begun a detailed study to analyze the possible threats of an underwater volcano near the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) in Kalpakkam, about 70km south of Chennai. Confirming the presence of an underwater volcano five weeks ago, an AERB reply to an RTI query said the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has also recommended an advanced study to figure out the status of the volcano, though initial investigations did not detect any significant geological signs.  –Times of India

June 25, 2013EQUATORThere is no widespread tsunami threat after a 6.4 earthquake reported at 12:04 p.m. on Mon. June 24, 2013 in the Northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The agency issued the notification saying the determination was based on historical earthquake and tsunami data. The quake was centered 772 miles ENE of Remire-Montjoly, French Guiana; 775 miles ENE of Cayenne, French Guiana; 778 miles ENE of Matoury, French Guiana; 786 miles ENE of Kourou, French Guiana; and 844 miles NNE of Salinopolis, Brazil, according to information compiled by the USGS. The USGS reports the earthquake was located at a depth of 6.2 miles and at the following coordinates: 10.726°N 42.616°W. – Maui Now

June 24, 2013VIETNAMResearchers have discovered a new virus in patients in Vietnam suffering from severe brain infections, a team of scientists reported today in mBio, the journal of the American Society for Microbiology.  The virus was detected in 28 of 644 patients who had severe brain infections and none of 122 patients who had non-infectious brain disorders, according to researchers at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Wellcome Trust South East Asia Major Overseas Program and the Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam. It’s tentatively called CyCV-VN and is part of a group of viruses known as Circoviridae known to circulate in animals such as birds and pigs, they said. “We don’t yet know whether this virus is responsible for causing the serious brain infections we see in these patients, but finding an infectious agent like this in a normally sterile environment like the fluid around the brain is extremely important,” Rogier van Doorn, head of emerging infections at the Wellcome Trust Vietnam Research Program and Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Vietnam, said in a statement. Brain infections can be fatal and may leave people who survive them with severe disabilities, the researchers said. Bacteria, parasites, fungi and viruses can cause the infections, though doctors can’t pinpoint the cause of more than half of them. The study was funded by the Wellcome Trust, the European Union and the Li Ka-Shing Foundation-University of Oxford Global Health Program.  –Bloomberg

CA NV 3
June 24, 2013 NEVADANevada seismologists and emergency managers say they’re monitoring an earthquake swarm in Carson City that has the potential to result in a major temblor. But officials from the Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Reno, stress they can’t predict how the sequence of over 120 minor quakes that began June 1 will play out or if it will result in larger events. The largest quakes of the swarm have been one of magnitude-2.9 on June 5 and two of magnitude-2.8 on Thursday and June 16. While each has been followed by many smaller quakes, no injuries or major damage have been reported. UNR seismologists say based on past seismic activity in the region, the probability of larger quakes increases as sequences progress. They say the swarm is of concern because it may be associated with the Genoa Fault Zone, which is capable of producing major quakes of magnitude-7 or more. Nevada is the third most seismically active state in the nation behind California and Alaska. –LVS

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Scriptures About Earthquakes

Luke 21:11 ESV         
There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
    
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.

Matthew 24:7 ESV         

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

Revelation 11:13 ESV         

And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Acts 16:26 ESV         

And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened.

Psalm 60:2 ESV         

You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair its breaches, for it totters.

Revelation 6:12-14 ESV         

When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

Matthew 28:2 ESV         

And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

Revelation 16:18 ESV         

And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake.

Matthew 24:36 ESV        

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

Isaiah 24:19 ESV     

The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken.

1 Corinthians 15:52 ESV         

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

Hebrews 12:26 ESV        

At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”

2 Timothy 3:1 ESV         

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

Ezekiel 38:19 ESV    

For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.

Isaiah 13:13 ESV         

Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger.

Job 9:5-6 ESV     

He who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger, who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble;

Matthew 24:44 ESV           

Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

1 Samuel 14:15 ESV          

And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic.

John 16:33 ESV          

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Matthew 24:42 ESV      

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

Matthew 24:1-51 ESV           

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ...

Revelation 16:20 ESV           

And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found.  

Psalm 46:2 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 

Isaiah 29:6 ESV      

You will be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.  

Zechariah 14:5 ESV     

And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.   

Zechariah 14:4 ESV          

On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.

Isaiah 24:20 ESV     

The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again.

Psalm 18:7 ESV     

Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.

Matthew 27:51 ESV   

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.  

Nahum 1:5 ESV        

The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it.

Amos 1:1 ESV     

The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. 

Psalm 46:3 ESV    

Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

Numbers 16:32 ESV    

And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods.

Numbers 16:31 ESV   

And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart.  

Daniel 2:44 ESV     

And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.

        
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
        
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—                 

Revelation 11:19 ESV          

Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.

Matthew 25:13 ESV         

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Matthew 24:30 ESV     

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Jeremiah 4:24 ESV     

I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro.

Psalm 104:32 ESV         

Who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke!

Psalm 90:2 ESV    

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Psalm 68:8 ESV         

The earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.

Job 9:6 ESV     

Who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble;

1 Kings 19:11 ESV     

And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

    

Great Earthquakes of the Bible

Greatest Earthquakes of the Bible
The Holy Land is a region where earthquakes occur frequently. By one means or another, big earthquakes have been documented in the Holy Land for a period exceeding 4,000 years.1 Many are known from history and literature, especially the Bible. Holy Land earthquakes are also evidenced from archaeological excavations. No other region of the earth has such a long and well-documented chronology of big earthquakes.
Recently, geologists have investigated the 4,000-year chronology of earthquake disturbances within the uppermost 19 feet of laminated sediment of the Dead Sea.2 Hypersaline waters preserve seasonally laminated sediment because organisms cannot live or burrow in the bed of the lake. As a result, only a nearby earthquake (or very large distant earthquake) can homogenize the lake’s uppermost sediment layers, producing a “mixed layer” devoid of laminations.3 A sketch of a sediment core from the west side of the Dead Sea appears in Figure 1. The sketch shows the depth of the “mixed layers” within the laminated sediment sequence.4 Two deeper mixed layers in the Dead Sea are datable from historical, archaeological, and geological associations with faulting—the earthquakes of 31 B.C. (the Qumran earthquake) and 750 B.C. (Amos’ earthquake). Other earthquakes are represented in the Dead Sea sediment core with dates approximated by assuming a steady rate of sedimentation.
Consider 17 of the most important earthquakes that relate to the Bible. The earthquakes are listed in chronological order. We begin with creation and go through to the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Day Three of Creation Week
On the third day of the creation week, the waters of the earth were collected into the oceanic basins as continents appeared (Genesis 1:9-10). Before Day Three, the waters had been over the whole earth. Continents seem to have been uplifted and the ocean floor was depressed during a great faulting process that established the “foundations of the earth.” We are told that angels saw and praised the omnipotent God as the earth-shaking process occurred (Job 38:4-7; Psalm 148:1-6; possibly Psalm 104:5-6). Today, the earth’s continental crust (41 percent of the earth’s surface, including the continental shelves) has an average elevation of 2,000 feet above sea level, whereas the oceanic crust (59 percent of the earth’s surface, excluding the continental shelves) has an average elevation of 13,000 feet below sea level. Can anyone properly comprehend the colossal upheaval that formed continental crust on Day Three? Angels must have watched in awe!
2. Noah’s Flood

The year-long, global Flood in the days of Noah was the greatest sedimentary and tectonic event in the history of our planet since creation (see Genesis 6-9). One of the primary physical causes of this great judgment was the “fountains of the great deep,” all of which were “broken up” on a single day (Genesis 7:11). The verb for “broken up” (Hebrew baqa) means to split or cleave and indicates the faulting process (Numbers 16:31; Psalm 78:15; Isaiah 48:21; Micah 1:4; Zechariah 14:4). The enormous upheaval (probably associated with faulting of seafloor springs) unleashed a year-long global flood. God’s purpose was to begin the human race again from the family of Noah.

3. Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
A disaster called an “overthrow” was delivered in about 2050 B.C. on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-28). That event was so spectacular, swift, and complete that it became proverbial for the severity of judgment that God’s righteous anger could deliver.5 Jesus spoke “woes” exceeding those spoken against Sodom and Gomorrah on Galilean cities that rejected His teaching (Matthew 10:15; 11:23-24; Luke 10:12). The swiftness of Sodom’s judgment was used by Jesus to illustrate how sudden His return will be (Luke 17:28-30).
Of the five “cities of the plain” (Genesis 13:12; 14:8), only Zoar is described as surviving the catastrophe. Zoar is the site to which Lot and his family fled with the approval of the angels (Genesis 19:20-23). As a city, it flourished through the time of Moses and the kings of Israel, even being described as a city of the region of Moab by the prophets.6 Arab historians in the Middle Ages refer to Zoar and identify the city as modern Safi southeast of the Dead Sea in Jordan. Because Lot and his family made the journey by foot in just a few hours (Genesis 19:15, 23), Sodom must be less than about 20 miles from Zoar (modern Safi). Two Early Bronze Age archaeological sites southeast of the Dead Sea (Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira) reveal evidence of catastrophic collapse and burning along the eastern border fault of the Dead Sea Transform Fault. These two sites are likely the remains of Sodom and Gomorrah.7 A thick disturbed zone within the Dead Sea sediment core, assignable to the Sodom and Gomorrah event, occurs at a depth of about 18.5 feet.

4. Moses on Sinai
Before God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai and gave the Ten Commandments, a great shaking of the mountain occurred (Exodus 19:18). No doubt the earthquake prepared both Moses and Israel for the important truths the Lord was going to communicate. This awesome shaking event continues to be remembered in the New Testament as the context for God’s delivery of His Law (Hebrews 12:18-21).

5. Korah’s Rebellion in the Wilderness
A crisis of leadership developed among the children of Israel in the wilderness (Numbers 16:1-40). Korah and all his men were killed and their possessions taken, as the land on which they were camped split apart and closed back upon them (Numbers 16:31-33). God destroyed them because they rebelled against Him.

6. The Fall of Jericho
The wall of the fortified city of Jericho collapsed suddenly after the Israelites marched around the city seven times (Joshua 6). The biblical account does not specifically mention an earthquake, but the earth would have been shaken by the wall’s collapse. Archaeological excavations at Jericho confirm that the massive wall made of mud bricks did collapse at the time of the conquest, about 1400 B.C. The site of the ancient city of Jericho sits directly on top of a very large fault associated with the Jordan Rift Valley. Surprisingly, the Dead Sea sediment core has a distinctive mixed sediment layer at a depth of 15.1 feet that is evidence of a big earthquake at about 1400 B.C.

7. Philistine Camp near Geba
Israel conquered the Philistines near Geba after an earthquake occurred in their camp (1 Samuel 14:15). Jonathan and his armor bearer were separated from their army and would otherwise have been killed by the Philistines. Is this event at 1010 B.C. seen in the thinner “mixed layer” within the Dead Sea sediment core at a depth of 13.5 feet?

8. Elijah on Mount Horeb
God spoke to Elijah at Mount Sinai (Horeb) as He did before to Moses after the occurrence of an earthquake (1 Kings 19:11). Elijah, who had been hiding in a cave, realized that the Lord does not need to use a mighty earthquake to speak, but can, in His meekness, reveal Himself simply in a “still, small voice.”

9. Amos’ Earthquake of 750 B.C.
The prophet Amos predicted the “Day of the Lord” (Amos 5:18-20) and a great earthquake (1:1; 2:13; 3:14-15; 6:11; 8:8; 9:1, 5). When the magnitude 8.2 earthquake occurred two years later in 750 B.C., Amos was propelled to notoriety as the earliest writing prophet at the time of the explosive emergence in Israel of writing prophets. Other prophets that lived through the big earthquake wrote about “the Day of the Lord” and earthquakes (Isaiah 2:10-21; 5:25; Micah 1:3-6). Archaeological excavations at numerous Iron Age cities show earthquake destruction debris at layers assigned to the middle of the eighth century B.C.8 Dead Sea sediment cores indicate a persistent, two-inch-thick earthquake-disturbed layer at a depth of about 12 feet in the floor of the lake. Analysis of the damage regionally indicates Richter magnitude 8.2 with the epicenter in Lebanon. That makes Amos’ earthquake the largest yet documented in the Holy Land in the last 4,000 years.

10. Qumran Earthquake of 31 B.C.
About sixty years before the ministry of Christ, a small group of Levites copied Scripture onto scrolls at the small village of Qumran in the desert northwest of the Dead Sea. In 31 B.C., a large earthquake occurred along the Jericho Fault on the western side of the Dead Sea. The earthquake dried up Qumran’s main spring and severely cracked the architecture. Spectacular evidence of the earthquake is seen at recent excavations at Qumran in cracked stair steps within the ritual baths. Grooved fault surfaces (what geologists call “slickensides”) and ground rupture within lake sediment can be observed just south of Qumran. Josephus wrote of the regional devastation from the earthquake, and he said 30,000 men perished.9 The survivors buried the Dead Sea Scrolls and Qumran lay abandoned after the earthquake. The Bible, of course, is completely silent concerning this earthquake and other events during the intertestamental period. No doubt, everyone in New Testament times knew of ancestors killed in that event.

11. The Crucifixion in Jerusalem, April 3, 33 A.D.
After three hours of darkness at midday on April 3, 33 A.D., the Lord Jesus exclaimed the words “It is finished!” as He died on the cross. Immediately, the curtain of the sanctuary of the temple was torn, a great earthquake occurred, rocks were broken, and many dead saints were resurrected from their tombs (Matthew 27:51-54). The earthquake upon the death of Christ called attention to the great salvation that had been accomplished that day on the cross. The barrier between God and man was not removed by the earthquake tearing the Temple’s veil, but by His Son being offered as “the Lamb of God” for the sin of the world. The centurion and his soldiers, who were given the task of crucifying the Lord Jesus, saw the sky grow dark at noon, followed by the earthquake as Christ died at 3:00 p.m. They recognized that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.
An outcrop of laminated Dead Sea sediment can be seen at Wadi Ze’elim above the southwestern shore of the modern Dead Sea near the fortress of Masada. In this sediment outcrop is a distinctive one-foot thick “mixed layer” of sediment that is tied strongly to the Qumran earthquake’s onshore ground ruptures of 31 B.C. (see Figure 2).10 Thirteen inches above the 31 B.C. event bed is another distinctive “mixed layer” less than one inch thick. The sedimentation rate puts this second earthquake about 65 years after the 31 B.C. earthquake. It seems that the crucifixion earthquake of 33 A.D. was magnitude 5.5, leaving direct physical evidence in a thin layer of disturbed sediment from the Dead Sea.

12. The Resurrection in Jerusalem, April 5, 33 A.D.
No human agency rolled away the stone blocking the opening of our Lord’s tomb (Matthew 28:2). It was the earthquake in the presence of the angel. God’s sovereign action was obvious in both the earthquake and in our Lord’s resurrection. The purpose of the stone being rolled away was not to permit the resurrected body of Jesus to exit. The purpose was to allow people to see that the tomb was empty!

13. Jerusalem Prayer Meeting, Summer 33 A.D.
Following the day of Pentecost, the assembled church in Jerusalem received the report of threats and persecution from the Jewish leaders. That compelled them to pray that the outreach of His servants and the spread of the Gospel would continue. After the prayer, the place where they were gathered was shaken by an earthquake as believers spoke boldly (Acts 4:31).

14. The Prison at Philippi
An earthquake not only released Paul and Silas from the Philippi prison (Acts 16:26), but it authenticated their testimony. The jailer who witnessed the event recognized the Lord’s hand and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. That earthquake draws our attention to how God was using His apostles to minister in the early days of the church.

15. Today’s Earthquakes
When Jesus was asked by His disciples what the sign of His coming would be, He talked of wars, famine, epidemic disease, and earthquakes. Jesus said, “These are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8; Mark 13:8; cf. Luke 21:10-11). The word “sorrows” is the Greek word meaning “birth pangs.”11 Seismograph analysis reveals that the frequency and energy of large earthquakes was not constant throughout the twentieth century. According to a popular urban legend, big earthquakes have been increasing in both frequency and energy. This legend is not supported by the seismograph data.12 There appears to be about a 30-year cycle of increasing and decreasing earthquake frequency, suggesting the “beginning of birth pangs” theme. Furthermore, seismographs demonstrate that earthquakes are indeed distributed throughout the globe (the “divers places” as described by Jesus in Matthew 24:7 and Mark 13:8).

16. Gog’s Future Earthquake in Israel
Ezekiel 38 and 39 describe a northern confederacy of nations, commanded by a leader called Gog, that invades the land of Israel. A supernaturally directed natural disaster of colossal scale will occur (earthquake, slope failure, mountains overturned, dwellings collapse, rain of hailstones, rain of burning sulfur, and plague). This colossal disaster will result in the destruction of the invading armies (38:18-23), in God’s greatness and holiness being seen in the sight of the nations (38:23), and in the national conversion of Israel back to her sovereign Lord (39:25-29). Gog’s earthquake occurs after Israel has been dwelling in the land in perceived “safety” (38:8; 39:26) upon the northern confederacy’s unexpected invasion, whereas “Messiah’s earthquake” (Revelation 16:16-20) occurs after Israel has been afflicted with judgments at the site where “the kings of the earth and of the whole world” are gathered for battle (Revelation 16:14, 16).

17. Messiah’s Earthquake in the Future
The apostle John wrote of a “great earthquake” in the future associated with the opening of the “sixth seal” (Revelation 6:12). This earthquake will be the precursor to the greatest earthquake since men have been on the earth. This greatest earthquake will occur in association with the “seventh bowl” at a place called Armageddon (Revelation 16:16-20). This future “Armageddon earthquake” or “Messiah’s earthquake” will be associated with the return of Christ to Jerusalem (Acts 1:9-11; Zechariah 14:1-11) and is described as inflicting severe topographic and geologic changes on a global scale. Scripture appears to look forward to the monumental changes associated with this future earthquake (e.g., Psalm 46). After God’s voice shakes the earth mightily (Haggai 2:6, 7, 21, 22; Hebrews 12:26) and fully accomplishes these extraordinary geologic changes, His saints will receive a “kingdom which cannot be moved” (Hebrews 12:27-29).

Conclusion
A review of the 17 earthquakes listed above shows that virtually the entire story of the Bible can be summarized by its association with earthquakes. Biblical events emphasized by earthquakes are creation, Noah’s Flood, separation of Abraham and Lot from judgment of the wicked cities, the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, authentication of the leadership of Moses, God’s provision in the conquest of Canaan, vindication of the messages of Hebrew prophets, the crucifixion of our Lord in Jerusalem, the resurrection of our Lord, the ministry of the apostles and the church, the modern “birth pangs” sign of the end times, the national conversion of Israel, and the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. History, archaeology, and geology appear to confirm independently many earthquakes mentioned in the Bible.
Earthquakes have been used distinctively by God to highlight some of the most important events of the Bible. The three main purposes for biblical earthquakes are judgment, deliverance, and communication. The lesson is obvious—God does not do anything really big without emphasizing it with an earthquake! In our fast-paced, man-centered, technology-based society of the twenty-first century, God would have us pause and consider His sovereign nature and the program He has been accomplishing in the world.