"And great earthquakes shall be in divers places ..."

 "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Matthew 24:7-8)

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

 

    Earthquakes have been a part of our world for almost as long as it has been in existence. (Not sure whether there were any earthquakes before the Flood, but there have certainly been a vast number since then.) New Zealand is a country that gets its fair share of seismic activity. In fact, so common are earthquakes in the Land of the Long White Cloud that one of the country's nicknames is "The Shaky Isles". And it's not just earthquakes we get, but volcanic eruptions too. Those are less common than earthquakes, but still, we get our share.

    Even by this country's standards, however, the last decade or so has been pretty extreme. For starters, the city of Christchurch shook almost continually for over a year, beginning with the Darfield Earthquake (7.1 on the Richter scale) on 4 September 2010. That was followed by the devastating 6.2-magnitude quake of 22 February 2011, and more big shakes occurred on 13 June and 23 December 2011. The February 2011 earthquake took 185 lives and caused immense damage that forever altered the cityscape and resulted in a very long recovery that is still not complete. (Just three weeks after that quake, on 11 March 2011, there was a 9.1 monster shake that caused a devastating tsunami in eastern Japan, and especially the island of Honshu.)

    Not long after the Christchurch sequence finally settled down, another series of beefy earthquakes centred in Cook Strait shook up the middle of the country in July and August 2013. I well remember being woken up by the first of those earthquakes, a 5.7 on 19 July 2013. Then on 21 July, I was awakened again by a 5.8 tremor. That turned out to be a mere "warm-up act" for a 6.5-magnitude quake in the afternoon. To this day, it remains one of the most intense earthquakes I have ever felt. But the seismic "fun" was only just starting. On 16 August 2013, there was a 6.6-magnitude earthquake that was followed by a succession of heavy aftershocks. Until that day, I had probably never felt more than about three earthquakes on a single day. But on that mad afternoon and evening, I felt about 20! And they were all over 5, with one or two others exceeding 6. I think on that day, I felt just about as many earthquakes over about six hours as the combined total I had felt in my life beforehand! (It was almost like the quakes of my past decided to have a reunion.)

    Rather miraculously, these Cook Strait earthquakes did not do too much damage. They certainly did some, but Wellington was largely able to go on functioning as normal, as were other cities and towns in the upper South Island and lower North Island. Nobody died in these earthquakes, and I can't recall anyone being seriously injured. Still, it was a very unsettling period.

     On 20 January 2014, a 6.2 or 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the tiny town of Eketahuna. It shook up Wellington pretty vigorously, and rather rudely interrupted Wellington Anniversary Day, but by the standards of the 2010s, was a relatively minor event. However, it generated an aftershock sequence that continues (albeit sporadically and at very small magnitudes) to this day.

    Then at 12:02am on 14 November 2016, one of the largest and most extraordinary earthquakes in the country's history struck the northeastern coast of the South Island. What made this particular earthquake so remarkable, apart from its 7.8 magnitude, was the way in which multiple faults ruptured as it progressed. Some 20 faults ruptured in succession. It was as if the earth had decided to play a game of seismic dominoes. The earthquake began near Culverden in the Canterbury region of the South Island, but then "travelled" as far as Cook Strait before the faults there (which are aligned differently) acted as a "buffer" to stop the domino effect dead in its tracks. I vividly remember this earthquake. It started quite gently due to the initial epicentre being a long way away, but then steadily increased in intensity until it was the most severe and prolonged earthquake I had ever experienced. Because of the time it hit (just after midnight), the death toll was a miraculously low two. But it did tremendous damage, especially to State Highway 1 between Picton and Kaikoura, and the Main Trunk Line along the same stretch. Kaikoura was cut off for weeks and suffered a fair amount of damage. Wellington got off relatively lightly, but several buildings had to be demolished later. Of course, there were plenty of big aftershocks, which occurred over a wide area due to all the faults that had ruptured. It was 16 August 2013 all over again for a while there. The earthquake also triggered a tsunami that washed away a house in a bay on Banks Peninsula.

    Now on 5 March 2021, we have just had another extraordinary day. For possibly the first time in the country's history, we had no less than three earthquakes measuring over 7 on the Richter scale in the space of about six hours! However, only one was widely felt on the mainland, and that was the first one, which measured 7.3 and struck at 2:27am. While it was well short of the Cook Strait or Kaikoura earthquakes in terms of intensity, it was still a pretty vigorous, rolling shake. Soon after the earthquake, a tsunami warning was issued, and many people living near the sea had to evacuate their homes in the middle of the night and flee to higher ground.

    The next two earthquakes were near the Kermadec Islands - a 7.4 at 6:41am and an 8.1 at 8:28am. While these were a bit too far away to be properly felt in NZ, they did generate some tsunami activity that resulted in more people fleeing their coastal homes or being evacuated from them. In the end, we got nothing worse than 30cm high waves, but it was a considerable disruption to people's lives for a day.

    Our local seismic event monitoring agency, GeoNet, reckons that the earthquakes are probably related and that this event may have been more complex than first thought. The quake near Te Araroa, which they are now calling the East Cape Earthquake, occurred in or close to the Hikurangi Subduction Zone, one of New Zealand's greatest natural hazards as it is capable of generating earthquakes up to 9.0 in size. (As we saw in Japan in March 2011, and earthquake that big could trigger a truly devastating tsunami.) So it's not great news for us if that zone is starting to wake up.

    The earthquakes come in a week when there was also a 6.2-magnitude earthquake in Greece. Iceland is also experiencing quite a prolonged earthquake swarm at the moment. And over the past 20-30 years, the number of major earthquakes has gone up considerably. I have lived in New Zealand for all but two years of my life, and prior to 2010, earthquakes were just an occasional thing. I'd feel maybe one or two a year. They provided an interesting talking point on the day they occurred, but were otherwise no great concern. Now however, they are becoming an increasingly regular part of everyday life, although there can still be more stable periods. But I have never known a decade to have so many big earthquakes, and for the shaking to continue over such prolonged periods (as happened with the Christchurch, Cook Strait and Kaikoura sequences).

    When Jesus talked about the period leading to the final Tribulation and His second coming, He described the events that would take place as "the beginning of sorrows" (Matthew 24:8). The word "sorrows" in the King James Bible means birth pangs or labour pains. When a woman goes into labour, her contractions are fairly wide apart. But as her baby's birth gets ever closer, the contractions start to become more frequent. They also increase in intensity. Well this is exactly the pattern that we are seeing with earthquakes, not only in New Zealand, but elsewhere in the world. They are more frequent and getting more intense. Notice that "pestilences" are also mentioned. That's why I believe COVID-19 is real - it's one of those prophesied pestilences. There have been other pestilences in recent times too (SARS, MERS, swine flu and even a measles resurgence), but none with the global reach and impact of COVID-19. It has been a while since a serious famine, but the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many supply lines, and last year there were several serious locust plagues that destroyed an awful lot of crops. Recently an article on Stuff revealed that our government was considering rationing food if the pandemic had been severe enough to require Level 3 and 4 lockdowns for months on end. There aren't too many major wars going on just at present, but there is certainly plenty of tension around. China has been acting pretty belligerently towards Taiwan and Hong Kong, and the United States feels like it could descend into civil war if the right kind of "triggering event" were to occur.

    Now certainly, all of the events Christ talked about have occurred throughout the past 2,000 years. But as His return, along with the Tribulation period that precedes it, gets ever nearer, we can expect them to become more common and severe. Interestingly, the Lord also said that the world would be similar to how it was in the days of Noah and the days of Lot:

    "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." (Luke 17:26-30)

    Now one key point of this passage is that most people of the world will be just living their lives, blissfully unaware that Christ's return is imminent. Christians will be watching out for it, but the lost will just carry on their merry way. However, it is interesting that Jesus specifically references the times of Noah and Lot. Let's take a look at what the world was like before the Great Flood:

    "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." (Genesis 6:5-6)

    "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." (Genesis 6:11-12)

     Sounds a lot like our world today. Violence is everywhere. Mass murders have become almost commonplace. There are video games, movies and books filled with the most extreme and grotesque violence imaginable. Again, there has always been some degree of violence in the world, but nowadays it seems to be ramping up to unprecedented levels.

    Now Lot lived in Sodom, which is where words like "sodomy" and "sodomite" come from, because it embraced homosexuality. Read Genesis 19:1-26 to see how that all panned out. (There is a similar account in Judges 19:16-28, although that involves bisexuals rather than exclusive homosexuals as the men of Sodom were.) There has never been a time in human history when the sin of homosexuality has been as widely praised and approved of in society as today. Never before in the six thousand years or so that the earth has been in existence have two men or two women been allowed to "marry" in so many countries. There is also an extraordinary attack on gender right now - even Mr Potato Head is not allowed to be male anymore! (He's just "Potato Head", without the "Mr", in order to make him more "inclusive".) The world is so consumed with evil that the wicked act of abortion - murdering a baby in the womb - is trumpeted as a virtue.

    The Bible warns us that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" (2 Timothy 3:13). At the start of that same chapter, we are told, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come, For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

    The times we are living in are indeed perilous. Evil is flourishing in ways that were unthinkable for most of human history. The wickedness of man has once again become great in the earth. And those "labour pains" are getting closer together and ever more intense. As the world becomes more violent, it is also shaking more violently. Which means we can expect the world to get even more wicked and the "birth pangs" to get even more frequent and intense in the next few years and decades.

    However, although I believe the hour is late, the end is not yet. Christians need to watch, but also be about our Father's business while we are able. And to any non-Christians reading this, you need to repent of your sins (be sorry for the offences you have committed against God) and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. The world may not end tomorrow (in fact, it quite definitely won't), but your life might (though I sincerely wish everyone who reads this many long and happy years). The Bible says: "[B]ehold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). It also warns, "Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." (Proverbs 27:1) If God has softened your heart to repentance and you understand your need for salvation, don't put it off another day. Tomorrow just may be too late.

UPDATE (9/3/2021): I'm not sure how sound the writer of this article is, but he claims to have sourced his information directly from the US Geological Service. In the first 65 days of 2021, there have been some 42 earthquakes of 6.0 or higher. That is a record for any year. 2011 holds the record for the most major (6.0+) earthquakes over the course of a whole year: 207. (The previous record holder was 1957 with 205, mainly in Alaska.) In the first 65 days of 2011, there were 30 major earthquakes (including the devastating Christchurch one of 22 February). This year appears to be on track to beat 2011's overall record. A concerning observation made in the article is this: "What is happening along the eastern margin of the Australia plate this year is similar to the great Honshu quake swarm on the Japanese Trench back in 2011 when around 70 major quakes, mag 6 or higher caused the destruction of the Fukushima Nuclear Plant and resulted in the deaths of 22,000 people." Let's hope that New Zealand doesn't get a repeat of that terrible disaster in Japan (which happened a mere three weeks after the Christchurch earthquake). But we should certainly be prepared, and as I said above, Christians need to continue being about the Lord's business while we can.

UPDATE 2 (21/3/21): After a sequence of more than 50,000 earthquakes over the past month, the Fagradalsfjall volcano in southwestern Iceland has erupted for the first time in about 800 years. It is located near the capital, Reykjavik, and the country has suspended air travel as a result. Mt. Etna in Sicily has also been extremely active lately.