HISTORIC EARTHQUAKES
After Jesus told them that the Temple would be destroyed, the Disciples had End Times and the Second Coming on their mind. In response to their question, “When will this happen?” Jesus told them that “there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”1 So famines and earthquakes are a prerequisite to the Second Coming.
We have seen famines and even now there are food riots in some countries. We have also seen a sharp increase in the number of earthquakes. The following graph shows the annual number of earthquakes equal to or greater than 6.0 on the Richter Scale.2 The 2008 number is based on 24 qualifying earthquakes through May 12, 2008, and is extrapolated for the full year. At the current rate, there will be 65 earthquakes of 6.0 or greater on the Richter Scale in 2008. This has never happened in our recorded history.
This extraordinary increase cannot be attributed to improved sensors and seismic equipment. There was one qualifying earthquake in 1996 and 47 in 2007. I do not think that the equipment became 47 times more sensitive over an eleven year period.
My leanings are that we are seeing the simple fulfillment of the prophecy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 24. Stay tuned. There is more to come. As J. R. Church says, “Keep looking up!”
1 - Matthew 24:7b-8
2 - http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/historical_mag_big.php