Big Quake increase!!

[mikhen7]

All in past 3 days not including aftershocks.

China - Strong earthquake reported in far-western China - 6.2
Alaska - Quake hits Alaska's Aleutian Islands - 6.2
Russia - Magnitude 7.7 Pacific quake causes no damage - 7.7
Iran - Earthquake toll at 306 - 6.4


And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. Luke 21:11 (NKJV)

[billym]

All in past 3 days not including aftershocks.

China - Strong earthquake reported in far-western China - 6.2
Alaska - Quake hits Alaska's Aleutian Islands - 6.2
Russia - Magnitude 7.7 Pacific quake causes no damage - 7.7
Iran - Earthquake toll at 306 - 6.4


And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. Luke 21:11 (NKJV)

Every day we are seeing more signs of His return, it s exciting times we live in for sure.

[Tony Jiang]

mmmmm....interesting times we live in no...but remember these types of earthquakes are actually fairly common in certain areas of the world,like around the ring of fire, so we should not mix in sensationalism with facts, but however, the most important thing we should be looking at is Israel as a sign no...

[UCT]

I use to believe earthquakes were increasing in frequency, but I'm not sure anymore. If you look back at history, you see some HUGE, incredibly damaging earthquakes. Were they as frequent? That is debatable. I work for an insurance company.... We see the catastrophes all over the globe and pay claims on them. There is no doubt 2010 was horrible, but it was horrible for us in the USA. I believe we tend to look too much at our own country and try to make what we see here fit into Bible prophecy. Across the world, you know of the "large" earthquakes, typhoons and other storms that devastate a particular region as you see them on tv. They have been happening for decades though, just not reported as news the way they are today. Forty years ago, what happened in Iran would not have been known as they would not have shared the information and the technology was not present to detect the earthquakes they just had outside of their general area. As information is easier spread thanks to the internet, smart phones and tablets, people read more about events that have been happening for years and tend to think it is "new", when in fact, it isn't new at all. Someday, the Midwest and the West Coast are going to get hit with "the big one" and many people will believe it is a sign of some kind. I don't believe it is. We are due for those quakes and live on a fault. The fact we see earthquakes in "divers" places is more of a proof to me of the sign of the times than an earthquake doing much damage.

[dave-o]

Didn't Iran have 2 quakes?

[Tony Jiang]

I use to believe earthquakes were increasing in frequency, but I'm not sure anymore. If you look back at history, you see some HUGE, incredibly damaging earthquakes. Were they as frequent? That is debatable. I work for an insurance company.... We see the catastrophes all over the globe and pay claims on them. There is no doubt 2010 was horrible, but it was horrible for us in the USA. I believe we tend to look too much at our own country and try to make what we see here fit into Bible prophecy. Across the world, you know of the "large" earthquakes, typhoons and other storms that devastate a particular region as you see them on tv. They have been happening for decades though, just not reported as news the way they are today. Forty years ago, what happened in Iran would not have been known as they would not have shared the information and the technology was not present to detect the earthquakes they just had outside of their general area. As information is easier spread thanks to the internet, smart phones and tablets, people read more about events that have been happening for years and tend to think it is "new", when in fact, it isn't new at all. Someday, the Midwest and the West Coast are going to get hit with "the big one" and many people will believe it is a sign of some kind. I don't believe it is. We are due for those quakes and live on a fault. The fact we see earthquakes in "divers" places is more of a proof to me of the sign of the times than an earthquake doing much damage.

well I am not sur how "divers" they are,but still interesting times we live in

[mikhen7]

Let me just state that id Earthquakes do not matter because they have "Always" been, then why does the Scripture state they are a sign of the times? Luke 21:11 (NKJV)

Are we to be looking for 10.0+ earthquakes or an increase in frequency or an increase in large ones or just ignore them all together?

EQ.jpg

This chart only goes through 2008 and does not include the 320,120 deaths in 2010, 21,953 in 2011
I think Israel is a the biggest sign of all but even the things going on in Israel would be meaningless without all of the other signs occurring simultaneously. My 4 pennies!

God Bless!

[UCT]

Mikhen - I don't recall anyone saying earthquakes do not matter. The debate is whether or not they are happening more frequently. In insurance, all the large Carriers have a Cat Modeling Team that does nothing but map the potential for Catastrophes against a map of places where Catastrophes are prone to happen, or more likely. We have absolutely nothing showing there is an overall increase in the intensity of earthquakes overall. We've had some sporadic large earthquakes, but not nearly as many as you read about on some of these websites. They are coming, no doubt, but they aren't here yet.

Read what you posted Mikhen. Luke 21:11 makes it very clear; "And there will be GREAT earthquakes in VARIOUS places, AND famines and pestilences; AND there will be fearful sights AND great signs from Heaven." Please note the word "Great" is used when discussing earthquakes, as is "various places". I put the "and" words in Caps as I believe they also have meaning here. Jesus didn't say when you see some average sized earthquakes, or slightly above, look up. He made it clear the earthquakes would be GREAT, in VARIOUS places AND combined with other events. I must ask, where are the fearful sights and great signs from Heaven? Earthquakes, in my humble opinion, are worthless as a "sign" unless they meet the FULL qualifications of the scripture you yourself posted. While we have had some large earthquakes these past few years, it is a VERY small increase in the number, while not nearly being as strong as some of our greatest earthquakes of the past generations. I suspect we will see multiple 8.0 and higher earthquakes soon, in various places around the globe, happening all at once or within literal days/weeks of each other. That would fit right in with the beginning of the famine stages we could be in and with famine and earthquakes you will most certainly have pestilences from the lack of water and disease. I believe these things will happen altogether, and that will be THE sign as Jesus didn't proclaim in Luke 21:1 that the earthquakes would be of the normal variety. If he uses the word "great", I suspect he means it.....

[UCT]

I also wanted to add I like your chart, but as with most things pertaining to earthquakes, it is a bit misleading. Each and every year, there is new technology developed to help us find faults, track more and more countries for earthquake activity that had not been tracked before, and otherwise improve our accuracy in the hopes of one day having advanced notice of said quakes.

It is true the earthquakes of today are causing more damage. It is also true forty years ago some of these earthquakes would never have been reported. On top of that, if you adjust for inflation, the earthquakes of the past have royally trumped the recent quakes we've had. Anyone can make a chart showing there are more today..... The chart doesn't paint the full picture though and only shows what it wants to show. It doesn't put a dollar value on the 1960 Chile earthquake, the Alaskan earthquake of 1964, the Aleutian Islands quake of 1957.... These are the 3 largest in recorded history. The Japan quake of 2011 is tied with 2 other quakes for the 4th largest. In the last 60 years, only 4 of the top ten quakes have occurred. Not a one has been in the last 12 months and only one has been in the last 24 months. That isn't exactly a "huge" increase as the chart would have you believe. These are only the largest since 1900.....

Per the australiangeographic institute (Earthquakes: the 10 biggest in history - Australian Geographic)

Seismologists have noticed an increase in high-magnitude, high-impact earthquakes in the last decade, says Mike, but there are few theories to explain this. "Energy released by earthquakes on a global scale in the last decade is much more than in the previous 25 to30 years," he told Australian Geographic. "However, the period 1952-1965 had equally as much energy released."

There may be cyclical clustering patterns of high-energy earthquakes that last about a decade, interspersed with longer less-active periods, he says, but there isn't enough data to be certain. "The problem in looking for patterns is that we didn't have the seismological equipment available for making accurate recordings before [the 1950s]...So it is too early to categorically identify a trend of this kind."

So, groups of clusters like the one we are in now are not at all uncommon. In fact, the grouping we are in right now is no worse at all than the one from nearly 70 years ago. As I posted above, I believe Jesus himself made it clear we will see all the things he mentioned together, then earthquakes will be a huge sign. If Jesus uses the word "great" to describe the earthquakes, I'm sure he meant it and we should be looking at the large quakes, not the everyday quakes that have been going on since he created the Earth. The earth has to release energy and our Lord provided a way for it to be done.

[mikhen7]

This was not in anyway meant to be a contrary thread, so do not take it that way, but if we are in the last days, and I believe wholeheartedly we are, then the signs that Christ spoke of are on the rise and will continue to get worse.

Here is the question, "Is the bang bigger than the buck?"

I agree with you about the death increases, see below:

2005 deaths - 228,802
2006 deaths - 88,003
2008 deaths - 88,011
2010 deaths - 320,120

From 1900 - 1947, including the quakes you listed above that happened after 1900, there have been 732379 deaths
From 1948 - 2011, including the quakes you listed above that happened after 1947, there have been 1,585,605 deaths

Earthquakes with 1,000 or More Deaths since 1900

Granted that does not take into account population growth. So even in deaths the rate is higher.

Here is a chart with 6.99 and above, very similar to my calcs using USGS:

EARTHQUAKE : FREQUENCY : TRENDS : Have earthquakes increased : Record of major earthquakes on earth since middle 19th century, including 20th century and 21st century
DATES FROM & TO PERIOD NO. EARTHQUAKES (Mag. > 6.99)
1863 to 1900 incl 38 yrs 12
1901 to 1938 incl 38 yrs 53 Reference list 1901 to 1938
1939 to 1976 incl 38 yrs 71 Reference list 1939 to 1976
1977 to 2014 incl * 38 yrs 164 (to Mar. 2011) predict >190 in total. Reference list 1977 to date

So yes they can fluctuate and yes there are other factors but I will stick to my impressions that they are increasing in intensity and number.

God Bless

[UCT]

I agree, it is not a contrary thread and as Christians I believe we can discuss these things and our beliefs without incident.

The population explosion explosion worldwide did not hit until WWII. Any deaths from natural disaster prior to that would absolutely be far less than the number of deaths today. If you adjust for the inflation of the population, you will find this to be similar to the movies. Gone with the Wind would have made something crazy, like $4 Billion in todays money. Likewise, the early quakes of the 20th Century would have cause more deaths today than most our recent Quakes due to the population in those areas increasing tenfold since 1900.

One of my favorite things to debate with Evolutionists is this very fact. If cave people were around millions of years ago, or even hundreds of thousands of years ago, the population of the Earth today would be in the hundreds of Billions. We have birth control, wars and abortions today and the population is increasing faster than the Earth can accomodate. Without, at the least, birth control and abortions, wouldn't the cave people have multiplied at an exponential rate? They would have multiplied like bunnies. Since the days of Noah, we've seen how fast this world has grown. Ok,, back to the topic at hand....

Also, when you show charts of earthquake activity, please keep in mind the number of monitors has doubled ever few months for years. Worldwide, how many earthquakes could be counted between 1900 and 1970? VERY few compared to today. If we had the technology back then, I do not believe you would see any difference at all in the number. Jesus gave us the signs of what to look for and when he mentioned earthquakes, he mentioned them being GREAT and with other signs accompanying them. We have seen some very large ones in the last few years, but not the other signs and they were not as large as the recorded quakes 70 years ago. I DO believe we are going to have some massive earthquakes soon, but do not believe the ones we've had to date are the ones we are to be watching for in terms of the signs given to us by Christ Jesus.

[JC1949]

Ok.....I just wanted say that Jesus words concerning the earthquakes as well the wars and rumors of wars and otherr such amenities are His warining to Israel and are referring to those events that will transpire,actually happen in that 7 year period....
Luke 21:11 and .....

Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: 11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. 12 But before all these, lthey shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and minto prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. 13 And nit shall turn to you for a testimony. 14 oSettle it therefore in your hearts, not to pmeditate before what ye shall answer: 15 For I will give you qa mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. 16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. 17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. 18 But rthere shall not an hair of your head perish. 19 In your spatience tpossess ye your souls.
20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem ucompassed with armies, then know that wthe desolation thereof is nigh. 21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; xand let not them that are in the ycountries enter thereinto. 22 For these be the days of zvengeance, that all things awhich are written may be fulfilled. 23


same in Matthew 24:
24 And aJesus went out, and bdeparted from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, cThere shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3 And as he sat upon dthe mount of Olives, ethe disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of fthe end of the world? 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, gTake heed that no man deceive you. 5 For hmany shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; iand shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that kye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For lnation shall rise against nation, and mkingdom against kingdom: and there shall be nfamines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of osorrows.
9 pThen shall they deliver you up qto be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then shall many rbe offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many sfalse prophets shall rise, and tshall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 uBut he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this xgospel of the kingdom yshall be preached in all zthe world zzfor a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.


So,once again we MUST make distinction between Israel and the church.....

Sorry to deflate the debate...but even if 2 mega earthquakes hit us tomorrow wherever in the world,it would be surely tragic but not at all pertinent to what Jesus said above.....
We haven't seen anything yet...and if we belong to HIS church ( Body,the Bride,truly born again children of God saved By GRACE though Faith) we will not see them happening but from the balcony of heaven,so to say,because we are going to be SNATCHED UP AND AWAY ( RAPTURED,SEIZED WITH FORCE) soon....whenever that soon is,because the Translation of The Bide is IMMINENT ( meaning impending at any given time )and AFTER that the Great Tribulation ( also called Jacob's trouble) will take place.

Shalom and Maranatha!!!!

[Littlejoe]

Ok.....I just wanted say that Jesus words concerning the earthquakes as well the wars and rumors of wars and otherr such amenities are His warining to Israel and are referring to those events that will transpire,actually happen in that 7 year period....
Luke 21:11 and .....

We have to keep in context of what Jesus was sayin in Matthew 24,Luke 21:11,Mark..There has always been earthquakes,War..But he made it clear as labor pains.When we see all of the above mentioned,Wars,Rumors of war,earthquake society growing hateful-cold !!When we see all of "these events happening"at the same time then thats when they meaning something,like they are now.nation rising against nation,ethnic groups against ethnic groups....

[billym]

No tsunami warning, damage reported after strong quake strikes Indonesia | Fox News

JAKARTA, Indonesia – *A strong earthquake of 6.6 has rocked a north Indonesian island. No tsunami warning has been issued and there are no immediate reports of damages or casualties.
The U.S. Geological Survey says Saturday's quake struck 35 miles south-east of Palu city on Sulawesi Island at a depth of 12.6 miles. It hit at 17:41 local time.
Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because it is in the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.


Read more: No tsunami warning, damage reported after strong quake strikes Indonesia | Fox News

[GlennO]

Roberto!! Your post is spot on!!!

24:6, 7 There will be wars and rumors of wars. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. It would be easy to think that we are seeing this fulfilled today, but what we see is mild compared to what will be. Actually the next event in God's time schedule is the Rapture of the church (Joh_14:1-6; 1Co_15:51-57). There is no prophecy to be fulfilled before then. After the church is removed, God's prophetic clock will begin and these conditions will quickly manifest themselves. Famines, pestilences, and earthquakes will occur in various parts of the earth. Even today world leaders are alarmed by the specter of famine due to the population explosion. But this will be accentuated by the shortages caused by wars.
Earthquakes are attracting increasing attention—not only those now occurring but also those that are expected. Once again, these are straws in the wind, and not the actual fulfillment of our Savior's words.
24:8 Verse 8 clearly identifies this period as the beginning of sorrows—the onset of birth-pangs which will bring forth a new order under Israel's Messiah-King.
24:9, 10 Faithful believers will experience great personal testing during the Tribulation. The nations will conduct a bitter hate campaign against all who are true to Him. Not only will they be tried in religious and civil courts (Mar_13:9), but many will be martyred because they refuse to recant. While such testings have occurred during all periods of Christian testimony, this seems to have particular reference to the 144,000 Jewish believers who will have a special ministry during this period.
Many will apostatize rather than suffer and die. Family members will inform against their own relatives and betray them into the hands of bestial persecutors.
24:11 Many false prophets will appear and deceive hordes of people. These are not to be confused with the false messiahs of verse 5. False prophets claim to be spokesmen for God. They can be detected in two ways: their prophecies do not always come to pass, and their teachings always lead men away from the true God. The mention of false prophets adds confirmation to our statement that the Tribulation is primarily Jewish in character. False prophets are associated with the nation of Israel; in the church the danger comes from false teachers (2Pe_2:1).

Believer's Bible Commentary

[GlennO]

Pastor Mike said:

All in past 3 days not including aftershocks.

China - Strong earthquake reported in far-western China - 6.2
Alaska - Quake hits Alaska's Aleutian Islands - 6.2
Russia - Magnitude 7.7 Pacific quake causes no damage - 7.7
Iran - Earthquake toll at 306 - 6.4


And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. Luke 21:11 (NKJV)

Brother, I've posted the USGS stats regarding intensity, frequency and fatalities a number of times. I believe we trivialize the events that will befall those that are left-behind after the Church is taken up. I believe the "Birth-Pangs" will appear in the period of disruptions, panic and confusion resulting from the disappearances of a million or more believers and children. Luke 21:11 leaves room for mankind's hand in the miseries such as Famine (using food for fuel) and Pestilence (genetic mutations gone wrong)

With respect, yes the stage is being set, but not even our Redeemer knows the day or hour. Natural forces disasters and calamities are at work presently. Supernatural forces fully will display the Time of Jacob's Trouble.

You are loved Bro!

[mikhen7]

So I go back to the point I suggested earlier, are there no "Signs of the times" other than Israel and increases in sinful activity, cf 2 Tim. 3:1ff? I cannot theologically buy that. I am in total agreement about Matthew 24 and Israel, however I am inclined to believe in Jesus' general overview of 24:7-8 could apply generally to signs of the coming tribulation. There are no signs for the rapture because you will have a hard-time putting a sign on anything imminent because imminency is destroyed up to the point of the sign.

I agree with Dr. David Reagan's point of view:

Articles - Prophecy - Signs - Recognizing Signs of the Times

And Fruchtenbaums for the most part:
Arnold Fruchtenbaum - Sequence of Pre-Tribulation Events - 1 of 1..
Arnold Fruchtenbaum - Sequence of Pre-Tribulation Events - 2 of 1..


But this should never be a divisive issue. I just believe we are seeing the "Beginning of Sorrows" pointing to future tribulation woes.

Love you all and God Bless!

[mattfivefour]

I agree with you, Mike.

[WKUHilltopper]

I wonder if "Pharaoh's scientists" blames fracking or something else just like they claimed a volcano turned the Nile red...

However, no one with certainty can say these things are from God. We just know, sometime in the future, these will happen and will be from God--based on what the Scriptures tell us. We don't and can't know the mind of God. And I'm kinda thankful for that, because my head would probably explode otherwise (wouldn't take much!)

[caligal]

Southern California has had over 50 earthquakes today! The largest was 5.4 and two 5.3s and many many smaller ones. This is just below the Salton Sea on the San Andreas fault.