No. 198

EARTHQUAKES IN THESE LAST DAYS

by Steven A. Austin, Ph.D.*

Earthquakes are among the most awesome, and sometimes most

terrifying, natural events a person can experience. That was

brought to the world's attention again by the great California

earthquake of October 17, 1989. Already, that earthquake is

recognized to be the most costly natural disaster in the history

of the United States. Christians, also, have been asking what

God's purposes have been for earthquakes.

SPECIAL PURPOSES FOR ANCIENT EARTHQUAKES A review of the

twelve historic earthquakes of the Bible shows that they were used

at various times for special purposes.

1. Day Three of Creation Week, On the third day of creation the

earth's waters were collected into the oceanic basins as

continents appeared (Genesis 1:9,10). Continents were

uplifted and the ocean floor was depressed during a great

faulting process which ,established" the foundations of the

earth. We are told that angels saw and praised the

omnipotent God as this earth-shaking process occurred (Job

38:4-7; Psalm 148:1-6; possibly Psalm 104:5, 6).

2. Noahs Flood on the Earth. One of the primary physical causes

of God's great judgment in Noah's Flood was the splitting

open of all the fountains of the great deep (Genesis 7:11).

Enormous earth upheavals on the sea floor occurred as sea

floor springs were faulted open, unleashing a universal flood

on our planet. God's purpose was to begin the human race

again from the family of Noah.

3. Crossing the Red Sea. Although the historical record of

Israel's crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 14) has no reference to

earthquakes, the poetically heightened account in Psalm 77:18

speaks of God's voice expressed as earthquakes accompanying

this extraordinary deliverance.

4. Moses on Sinai. Before God spoke to Moses and gave the Ten

Commandments, there was a great shaking of the mountain

(Exodus 19:18). No doubt the earthquake prepared both Moses

and Israel for the important truths the Lord was going to

communicate.

5. Korah's Rebellion in the Wilderness. Korah and all his men

were killed, and all of their possessions taken, as the land

on which they were camped split apart and closed back upon

them (Numbers 6:31-33). The 250 men were destroyed by God

because they were in rebellion against Him.

6. The Fall of Jericho. Bible readers, especially those who are

familiar with the archaeological excavations at Jericho, have

supposed that an earthquake toppled the walls of the city.

However, the account of Israel's conquering the city of

Jericho (Joshua 6) contains no reference to earthquakes.

There is no doubt that the fall to earth of the city's great

wall would have caused the earth to shake. God delivered the

city, by whatever means, into Israel's hand.

7- Philistine Camp near Geba. Israel conquered the Philistines

near Geba after an earthquake occurred in their camp (I

Samuel 14:15). Jonathan and his armor bearer were separated

from their army and would otherwise have been killed by the

Philistines.

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 (I 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. Uzziah's Earthquake at Jerusalem. Uzziah, the

longest-reigning King of Judah, became proud of his great

buildings and the strength of his army (II Chronicles 26).

The Lord afflicted Uzziah's kingdom and buildings with a

great earthquake (Amos 1:1; Zechariah 14:5) as well as Uzziah

personally, with incurable leprosy. A recent technical

report gives evidence that this earthquake was the largest in

the last 4,000 years of Palestine.'

10. The Crucifixion in Jerusalem. When our Lord Jesus Christ

died on the cross, a great earthquake tore the curtain of the

sanctuary of the temple, and many dead saints were

resurrected from their tombs (Matthew 27:51-54). The

earthquake was used by the Lord to show the great salvation

that had been accomplished that day on the cross. Because of

the earthquake, the centurion and those with him at the cross

recognized that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.

11. The Resurrection in Jerusalem. No human agency rolled away

the stone blocking the opening of our Lord's tomb (Matthew

28:2).

12. The Prison at Philippi. An earthquake not only released Paul

and Silas from the 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.

"BIRTH PANGS" AND RECENT EARTHQUAKES Recent earthquakes

should receive a different interpretation in the Christian's

thinking. Jesus Christ spoke of them as "signs" of His coming

again to earth. He said, "There will be earthquakes in divers

places" (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8), a fact now verified by the

global distribution of earthquakes recorded on seismographs.

Furthermore, He said this sign is the "beginning of sorrows" (Matthew

24:8; Mark 13:8).

The word translated "sorrows" in many English Bibles is the Greek

work for "birth pangs." Just as we know that a woman is going to

give birth to a child because of birth pangs, Jesus says we know

that the intolerable anguish of God's judgment and the return of

His Son is at hand.

The birth pang theme is also alluded to by the apostles Paul

and John. Paul speaks in cosmic dimensions of all creation

"groaning in travail" (Romans 8:22), awaiting the new birth of the

world; John speaks of the sign of the pregnant woman (Revelation

12:2) and later describes the greatest earthquake since men have

been upon the earth, when mountains and islands will be displaced

(Revelation 16:18-20). This great future earthquake will be

associated with the return of Christ to Jerusalem (Acts 1:9-12;

Zechariah 14:1-11), and is described as inflicting severe topo-

graphic and geologic changes on a global scale.2

YEAR

Editors Note: Not able to show graph

Figure 1. Global summary of ninety years of seismograph records

showing the frequency and energy of large shallow earthquakes.3

A. Number of great earthquakes vath measured surface

wave magnitudes greater than or equal to 8.0

reported each year since 1897.

B. Number of shallow earthquakes with surface wave

magnitudes greater than or equal to 7.0 reported

each year since 1897.

C . Global energy of large earthquakes assembled from

seismograph records beginning with the year 1900.

Curve shows five-year running average (in ergs per

year) displayed on the logarithmic energy scale.

Some people have supposed that earthquake frequency and

intensity have been increasing significantly in recent times, and

that this is fulfilling prophecy. This is an illusion caused

lately by more frequent detection of earthquakes (more

seismographs with greater sensitivity). The illusion is also

promoted by the fact that earthquakes inflict greater damage on

today's larger, urbanized populations, and, therefore, make the

news morp-,often. Since good seismographs went into operation

late in the 1890's, no steady trend suggesting increased frequency

or intensity has been demonstrated.

The birth-pang notion of earthquakes is verified by

seismographic data, which shows their erratic occurrence. Figure

I summarizes global data on large earthquakes during the last

ninety years. For the decades of the 1950's and 60's, twelve

great earthquakes with magnitudes greater than or equal to 8.0

occurred (Figure IA), but for the decades of the 1970's and 80's,

only three have occurred. SimilarIv, shallow earthquakes, with

magnitudes greater than or equal to 7.0 for the period 1899-1970,

averaged ten events per year, but during the decades of the 1970's

and 80's, they have averaged just seven events per year (Figure

1B). Perhaps the best illustration of the erratic trend in

earthquake frequency and intensity is seen in the total energy of

large earthquakes (Figure IC). A pronounced peak in global

earthquake energy release occurred from 1952 to 1965. For the

year 1989, the global energy release may be one-tenth the yearly

release of the early 60's. Global seismic activity is very

non-uniform in time; it is like waiting for birth pangs. When

will there be another global upturn in seismic activity?

CONCLUSION

Earthquakes have been used of God at special times, with special

people, for special purposes. Like other miracles, Biblical

earthquakes were employed infrequently when no other human or

physical agency could inflict judgment on the wicked, redeem His

righteous people from difficult situations, or gain man's

attention so God's Word could be considered. In fact, these three

purposes-judgment, deliverance, and communication -should form our

basis for understanding earthquakes. In our fast-paced,

man-centered, technology-based society of the late 20th century,

God would have us pause and consider His sovereign nature and His

coming program for the world.

REFERENCES

1. S.A. Austin, "The Extraordinary Middle East Earthquake of 750

B.C.," ICR unpublished technical report, August 1989, 18 pp.

2. H. M. Morris, The Revelation Record, (Wheaton: Tyndale House

Publishers, 1983), p. 321.

3. Figures IA and IB after K. Abe and S. Noguchi, "Revision of

magnitudes of large shallow edrthquakes, 1897-1912," Physics

of Earth and Planetary Interiors, 33 (1983): pp. 1-1 1.

Figure IC after H. Kanamori, "Importance of Historical

Seismograms for Geophysical Research," W. Lee, H. Meyers, and

K. Shimazaki, eds., Historical Seismograms and Earthquakes of

the World (New York: Academic Press, 1988), pp. 16 33. These

figures were brought Current from the year 1980tothe year

1988byacomputerse4rctiof theglobalearthquake data base of

National Geophysicii Data Center, Boulder, Colorado.