Whole Lot More Shakin' Goin' On
At least fifty-seven are dead following a 6.0 magnitude earthquake (yes, another one) that shook eastern Turkey this morning.
Fifty-seven people had been killed by the quake, which caused the most deaths in six villages around the epicenter in the Karakocan town of the eastern province of Elazig, according to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News.
The quake struck Basyurt region of Karakocan town at a depth of 5 km at 7:47 am Monday local time, or about 2:47 pm Sunday EST.
The Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute of Turkey's Bogazici University reported 27 more strong aftershocks and warned that more are expected over the next hours and days.
On Feb. 21, a 4.3-magnitude earthquake was recorded in the Gokdere region of Elazig in Turkey, but no damage was reported.
On February 10, a 3.8 tremor rattled Chicago. On March 2nd, a 3.7 earthquake centered in southern Missouri was strong enough to be felt 150 miles away.
On March 3rd, a magnitude 2.5 tremor rattled central Oklahama. On March 4th, a magnitude 2.6 got residents' attention along the Ontario/Quebec border and on March 6th, a similarly-sized quake jolted southern Quebec near Beauport.
On March 8th, a flurry of eight small earthquakes rattled the area from southern Missouri to just east of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Assessment:
The U.S. Geological Survey expects 17 major earthquakes, those between 7.0 and 7.9, and one great quake 8.0 and higher, will affect the world in any given year.
There have been at least three major killer quakes in the past week; 8.8 in Chile, 7.0 in Japan, and today's quake in Turkey. The USGS also reported a 6.4 quake in Taiwan but with only minor injuries and a 6.5 in Sumatra.
The quake in Chile was so powerful that, like the 9.1 in southeast Asia in 2004 that spawned the Great Tsunami, it set the planet to vibrating like a giant tuning fork.
Like the '04 quake, it ripped a tiny hole in the space/time continuum, shaving some 1.26 microseconds off the length of a day.
NASA Scientist Richard Gross and his colleagues at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California calculated that the earth's axis was moved by nearly three inches by the force of the temblor.
According to a report in the Chinese daily, Xinhua, the Chilean earthquake is a harbinger of things to come.
The article began by linking the doomsday movie, 2012, to recent global events:
"Extreme weather has been reported this winter in many places around the world: blizzards in Northern Europe, America and Asia, heat waves in South America and Australia, heavy snows in North China and severe droughts in the South. Now, Chile has been hit by a massive earthquake registered 8.8 on the Richter scale, less than two months after the devastating Haiti quake of 7.3 magnitude claimed nearly 290,000 lives."
It quoted Sun Shihong, a senior researcher with CEA China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC), who told the newspaper that the world:
"did look like it was entering a new phase of earthquake activity. The latest movements of the earth's crust undoubtedly demonstrated an "active state."
What I found most interesting about the article was that it was from offically atheist China. It reads like an updated paragraph from "The Late, Great Planet Earth" or, (if I may be so bold) "The Last Generation".
There is something sadly comical that comes from watching the distress and perplexity of the lost in their looking after the things that are coming upon the earth.
They thought they had figured out the killer hurricanes and tornado swarms and blamed it on global warming, which they blamed on human activity.
But then it turned out that global warming means fewer hurricanes, the worst hurricanes hit after global warming peaked fifteen years ago and mankind didn't cause it anyway, since its over.
The Bible said all along that the signs in the sun, moon, and stars would affect the sea and the waves roaring, but that as long as the earth remains;
"seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:22)
For years, the USGS scoffed at the notion that earthquake activity showed any significant increase in frequency and intensity, mainly because Bible prophecy nuts starting pestering them for statistics.
"We continue to be asked by many people throughout the world if earthquakes are on the increase. Although it may seem that we are having more earthquakes, earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have remained fairly constant."
Er, sort of. Except that earthquakes HAVE been steadily increasing since 1948 -- and have jumped off the chart since the turn of the 21st century.
And the fact we are better at detecting them, as the USGS disclaimer argues (I wonder when that was last updated?) doesn't explain the Chinese article.
It wasn't talking about earthquakes detectable only by seismograph. It was addressing whether the earth was gearing up for a 2012 doomsday scenario.
I rather doubt it was because Xinhua was being pestered by Chinese Bible prophecy students.
The scientific explanations about shifting tectonic plates and natural cycles and earthquake 'clusters' and better equipment are all 'rabbit trails' that lead away from the real issue.
What is significant is that two thousand years ago, as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, Jesus was asked by His disciples what would be the sign of His coming at the end of the world?
He warned of earthquakes, famines, wars and pestilences saying they would increase in both frequency and intensity as the time approaches.
He warned of signs in the sun, moon and stars, the distress (fear) of nations, with perplexity (confusion) the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear from looking at the things that are coming upon the earth (re: the Xinhua article).
And He said that when these things BEGIN to come to pass, we should be looking up because our redemption draws near.
When the Chinese start looking up, it's really near.
