Scientists studying unusual quake swarm in SoCal


Here is the news about a quake cluster currently afflicting Southern California.

About 30 earthquakes strike in Southern California 'sequence'
"A cluster of earthquakes that began Tuesday night continued Wednesday in northern Orange County, keeping residents on edge but causing little significant damage. ... This is all part of the same earthquake sequence; they're all in the same area,'' Hutton told reporters at the briefing, which was televised by several TV stations. Experts said more aftershocks are likely. "It shook us pretty good. We’ve felt earthquakes before so it came as no surprise,” said Chris Nordyke, director of marketing at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda."

Southern Calif. shakes from small earthquakes
"Southern California was shaken Wednesday by the second moderate but widely felt earthquake in less than 11 hours, but no harm was reported. ... It was a decent sized shake and it's a reminder for everyone to have a plan for the Big One," said Stone. "How would you and your family survive for 72 hours with no water, no food and no amenities? Think about it. It's a reminder to go home and say, 'What if?' and make that plan."

Making Sense of Earthquake Clusters

"In some cases, one earthquake reduces the probability of subsequent earthquakes; while in other cases, one earthquake might trigger other earthquakes, causing earthquake clusters. The difficulty for scientists, insurers and catastrophe modelers is in understanding the patterns. It is known that a big earthquake releases stress on the fault segment where the rupture occurs. Therefore, on the same fault, the probability of another  earthquake has reduced greatly. In contrast, if a fault has not ruptured for a long time, the stress will  accumulate and thus increase the probability of a quake. This phenomenon is known as earthquake time dependency, which means that the probability of the next earthquake is dependent on the time and magnitude of the last earthquake on the same fault. On the surface, earthquake clusters seem to be contrary to the theory of earthquake time dependency. If the stress is released, why would an earthquake trigger another? In fact, although the stress is released in the segment near the rupture, it can actually increase in other areas. In addition, if the precedent earthquake is small and unable to release the majority of stress on the fault, a subsequent earthquake can happen." (source .pdf)

The scientists are studying this swarm. While they insist the swarm/cluster is far from extraordinary, they admit that a cluster like this has not happened for a few years.

Seismologists studying swarm of earthquakes in Southern California
"At a news conference Wednesday morning, Kate Hutton of the U.S. Geological Survey at Caltech said there had been at least 30 quakes since Tuesday night, but only three could be felt by residents. She said officials are studying the quakes to understand whether it was a swarm or some other type of pattern. "This is all part of the same earthquake sequence; they're all in the same area,'' Hutton told reporters at the briefing. "We haven't had anything in the L.A. Basin in the last few years, but that doesn't mean we're totally quiet, and we certainly have been active in the southern part of the state,'' she added.'

The scientists always minimize the potential or the situation or the effects...I suppose it is their job so as not to cause panic. But if they are studying it so swiftly then that's something to note.

In the Tribulation, earthquakes will happen that no man has ever seen before. There will be the usual kind, just more of them that cause damage, and like birth pangs, one after another until there is overlap and one long bout of pain.

But then there will be other quakes, 'mega quakes' that destroy mountains, divide cities. The Greek word really is megas, meaning mega, or very large in the widest sense. It is used in the verse below to describe the last earthquake:

In Revelation 16:18-12 we read,

"And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake (megas seismos) such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found."

That verse recounts the final judgment, when the angel pours out this one he says "It is done!" It is the seventh bowl, the last of the series of promised judgments. (7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, 7 Bowls).

Between the quakes of today to that last mega-quake of Revelation 16, earthquakes will only increase in frequency and intensity. Scientists can study them all they want, but by that last quake of human history, the only data that will matter is, are you saved by the blood of Jesus? Is your soul redeemed by the precious one who shed His blood for you?

As a matter of fact, it is the only data that matters now. Quakes aren't going to subside, go away, or be only minor in intensity. They will increase until the Lord returns. The unnerving thing is not to know when the next quake will occur, but as a Christian, you know they will and more often, too. Non-Christians will wonder what's going on but be just as surprised by the arrival of the earth-shattering commotion that we know as earthquakes as they will be by the earth and heaven shattering event and commotion that Jesus's Second Coming will entail. Don't be surprised. Accept Jesus as savior now, read the bible to see what's ahead. What's ahead for the Christian are blessings untold, the primary one being Jesus Himself.

Comments

  1. Wow!! 30 quakes in 1 cluster... I invite you to research and see if there indeed may be a connection between the imminent Rapture of the Church and a global earthquake. For instance, at the resurrection of Christ, the graves were opened and the dead were seen walking the streets of Jerusalem. And while we are on this subject, being that satan always imitates what God does is it any way possible that his imitation of the dead in Christ rising may indeed be the dead coming to life (i.e. zombies).. This may sound silly, but I would like to hear your thoughts on this; especially the Rapture /earthquake connection. Keep up the good work. God bless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous,

      Jesus said that prior to His coming one of the signs will be earthquakes in diverse places. (Matthew 24:7). He said this in answer to the disciples who wondered what will be the signs of His coming. He was talking of the entire length of time between His ascending to heaven and His eventual return, AKA the Church Age.

      He said that the time will be like birth pangs, and the birth pangs metaphor is used in other apocalyptic books in the OT of the Tribulation also. Birth pangs increase in frequency and intensity as the moment of birth comes near. In this case the birth is the establishment of Jesus's Kingdom ('Father...Your kingdom come...' Mt 6:9-10)

      In this way, the rapture has always been imminent, potentially happening at any time. Paul told his flock to be watchful. Jesus told the disciples to watch- 2000 years ago! Earthquakes always have occurred, it's just that as we approach the end of the end, they will be like birth pangs, more frequent and more intense.

      The quakes that will happen in the Tribulation will be altogether different than the quakes happening in the church age: they'll be unlike any the world has ever seen before- as stated in Rev 16. One way they'll be different is not just the severity. In Rev 16, after the great quake happens and the city is split into three parts, a plague of hail happens, each hailstone weighs 100lb each. People curse God because the plague of hail was so great (Rev 16:21). See? They KNOW it is God sending these events. Not like people now, speculating and not knowing for sure, or outright mocking and scoffing. They KNOW. How do I know they know? Because they curse God. The understand by then He is the originator of the 'natural disasters.'

      When the dead rise it will happen in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor 15:52) and the dead will have incorruptible flesh (glorified) (1 Cor 15:54). No bloody skin or hanging eyeballs for us, lol! Then the resurrected dead and the living will be in the air together and then will be gone. If satan wants to propose the the raptured dead saints are zombies he will have a hard go...with us all being absent in 1/100th of a second!

      Satan is increasing the world's tolerance for sin, and he is preparing us for co-mingling with the occult. The incessant fascination with vampires, werewolves, warlocks and wizards, (all demonic undead entities) and now zombies (another undead entity) are proof of this. He will attempt to pollute any pure and living thing.

      Perhaps people left behind will see something similar to zombies when the prophesied pestilences of Revelation 6 hit. Maybe the nearly dead and dying will be stumbling around with glazed over looks, hanging skin, incoherent with disease and/or insanity for dealing with the things that are coming upon the earth, or maybe the dying will literally rot in the street and look like zombies. Maybe satan is instituting a metaphoric zombie atmosphere because the bible does say that the living unsaved are dead in their sins, literally they're walking corpses. (Eph 2:1).

      I don't know... but Jesus will be collecting us and we will be in His light and His heaven forever!

      Delete
    2. Hey Elizabeth. To piggy back off the question you just answered, what judgements or descriptions in the book of revelations do you think volcanoes will fulfill. There seems to have been a very sharp and recent increase in volcano activity around the world. It's just awe inspiring to watch. Thanks again.

      Delete
    3. Hi Debbie,

      Interesting question. Personally I do think there will be a connection. In the first place, volcanoes
      are seismic in their own right and just prior to eruptions they emit a series of quakes. When Jesus said there will be earthquakes in diverse places in Matthew 24:7, that could be what He was referring to as well as referring to regular quakes not associated with volcanoes.

      Additionally, there is an interesting prophecy in Rev6:12b (also many other places in the OT like Joel 2:31 for example.) The Revelation verse says

      "behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood"

      The trio of events and the order described indicates perhaps an additional component of volcanic eruptions and the resulting ash covers the sun as sackcloth and turns the moon red. These are all identified and documented anomalies that are the results of especially big or sustained eruptive events. The ash makes the sun seem hairy and makes the moon seem red, in addition to making gorgeous sunsets for about a year. However the volcanic ash (AKA 'volcanic winter') prevents normal growing seasons due to lack of sun and colder temps,, which could contribute tot he famine that is also predicted to occur at that time.

      I wrote about volcanes and Revelation, extensively, here:

      http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/2010/04/of-volcanoes-dry-fog-and-sun-as.html

      Delete
    4. I never even thought about the increase of earthquakes involving volcanoes!!! That's so true. Rev. 6:12 immediately makes me think of Yellowstone. How amazing (albeit very scary). I'll check out that post. It's just really awe inspiring to see the planet literally being prepped for the tribulation before our very eyes. It is a display of God's mercy because the warnings are just becoming clearer and clearer. Thanks so much for your assistance Elizabeth. God bless...

      Delete
  2. Take a look at what is happening now. I have been looking at this site for about six years and have not ever seen this along the west coast.
    http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/region/N_America.php

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. wow, Jeff- that is eye popping. It seems like an unusual amount of activity to me. I don't have a previous basis though, to compare...

      Delete
  3. Interesting. You should check out that link above for today (8/26/12) Over 100 earthquakes in one area (SoCal) in 5 hours. Not real big ones (4-5 at 5.o+) but still unnerving to the people that live there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That one IS interesting. I posted about it with screen shots from USGS a bit earlier today. Thank you for the heads up

      Delete

Post a Comment