You have heard it said: "For nation shall rise against

nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be

famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11) And we hear the Judeo‑Christian preachers pounce on this like a cat on a mouse so let's look at what has been recorded about earthquakes.

   Magnitude of earthquakes (Mag.), distinct from deaths or

damage caused, is measured on the Richter scale, on which each higher number represents a tenfold increase in energy measured in ground motion. Adopted in 1935, the scale has been applied in the following table to earthquakes as far back as reliable seismograms are available.

                        Major Earthquakes

Date             Location                Deaths  Mag.

526    May 20    Syria, Antioch....      250,000  NA

856    ...       Greece, Corinth...       45,000   "

1057   ...       China, Chihli.....       25,000   "

1268   ...       Asia Minor, Cilicla...   60,000   "

1290   Sept. 27  China, Chihli.........  100,000   "

1293   May 20    Japan, Kamakura.......   30,000   "

1531   Jan 26    Portugal, Lisbon......   30,000   "

1556   Jan 24    China, Shaanxi........  830,000   "

1667   Nov.      Caucasis, Shemaka.....   80,000   "

1693   Jan 11    Italy, Catania........   60,000   "

1730   Dec 30    Japan, Hokkaido.......  137,000   "

1737   Oct 11    India, Calcutta.......  300,000   "

1755   June 7    N Persia..............   40,000   "

1755   Nov 1     Portugal, Lisbon......   60,000  8.75*

1783   Feb 4     Italy, Calabria.......   30,000  NA

1797   Feb 4     Ecuador, Quito........   41,000   "

1811‑12 series   New Madrid, MO........       NA  8.7

1822   Sept 5    Asia Minor, Aleppo....   22,000  NA

1828   Dec 28    Japan, Echigo.........   30,000   "

1868   Aug 18    Peru and Ecuador......   40,000   "

1875   May 16    Venezuela, Columbia...   16,000   "

1886   Aug 31    Charleston, S.C.......       60  6.6

1896   June 15   Japan, sea wave.......   27,120  NA

1906   Apr. 18   San Francisco, CA.....      700  8.3

1906   Aug 16    Chile, Valparaiso.....   20,000  8.6

1908   Dec 28    Italy, Messina........   83,000  7.5

1915   Jan 13    Italy, Avezzano.......   29,980  7.5

1918   Oct 11    Mona Passage, P.R.....      116  7.5

1920   Dec 16    China, Gansu..........  100,000  8.6

1923   Sept 1    Japan, Yokohama.......  200,000  8.3

1927   May 22    China, Nan‑Shan.......  200,000  8.3

1932   Dec 26    China, Gansu..........   70,000  7.6

1933   Mar 2     Japan.................    2,990  8.9

1933   Mar. 10   Long Beach, CA........      115  6.2

1934   Jan 15    India, Bihar‑Nepal....   10,700  8.4

1935   May 31    India, Quetta.........   50,000  7.5

1939   Jan 24    Chile, Chilian........   28,000  8.3

1939   Dec 26    Turkey, Erzincan......   30,000  7.9

1946   Dec 21    Japan, Honshu.........    2,000  8.4

1948   June 28   Japan, Fukul..........    5,131  7.3

1949   Aug 5     Ecuador, Pelileo......    6,000  6.8

1950   Aug 15    India, Assam..........    1,530  8.7

1953   Mar 18    NW Turkey.............    1,200  7.2

1956   June 10‑17 Afghanistan..........    2,000  7.7

1957   July 2    N Iran................    2,500  7.4

1957   Dec 13    W Iran................    2,000  7.1

1960   Feb 29    Morocco, Agadir.......   12,000  5.8

1960   May 21    S Chile...............    5,000  8.3

1962   Sept 1    NW Iran...............   12,230  7.1

1963   July 26   Yugoslavia, Skopje....    1,100  6.0

1964   Mar 27    Alaska................      131  8.4

1966   Aug 19    E Turkey..............    2,520  6.9

1968   Aug 31    NE Iran...............   12,000  7.4

1970   Jan 5     China, Yunnan Province   10,000  7.7

1970   Mar 28    W Turkey..............    1,086  7.4

1970   May 31    N Peru................   66,794  7.7

1971   Feb 9     San Frandando Valley, CA     65  6.6

1972   Apr 10    S Iran.................   5,057  6.9

1972   Dec 23    Nicaragua..............   5,000  6.2

1974   Dec 28    Pakistan...............   5,200  6.3

1975   Sept 6    Turkey, Lice...........   2,312  6.8

1976   Feb 4     Guatemala..............  22,778  7.5

1976   May 6     NE Italy...............     946  6.5

1976   June 26   New Guinea, Iran Jaya..     443  7.1

1976   July 28   China, Tangshan........ 242,000  8.2

1975   Aug 17    Philippines, Mindanao..   8,000  7.6

1976   Nov 24    E Turkey...............   4,000  7.8

1977   Mar 4     Romania................   1,541  7.5

1977   Aug 19    Indonesia..............     200  8.0

1977   Nov 23    NW Argentina...........     100  8.2

1978   Sept 16   NE Iran................  25,000  7.7

1979   Sept 12   Indonesia..............     100  8.1

1979   Dec 12    Columbia, Ecuador......     800  7.9

1980   Oct 10    NW Algeria.............   4,500  7.3

1980   Nov 23    S Italy................   4,800  7.2

1982   Dec 13    N Yemen................   2,800  6.0

1983   May 26    Japan, N Honshu........      81  7.7

1983   Oct 30    E Turkey...............   1,300  7.1

1985   Mar 3     Chile..................     146  7.8

1985   Sept 19   Mexico City............   4,200  8.1

1987   Mar 5     NE Ecuador.............   4,000  7.3

1988   Aug 20    India/Nepal border.....   1,000  6.5

1988   Nov 6     China/Burma border.....   1,000  7.3

1988   Dec 7     NW Armenia.............  55,000  6.8

1989   Oct 17    San Francisco bay area.      62  6.9

1990   May 30    N Peru.................     115  6.3

1990   June 21   NW Iran................  40,000  7.7

1990   July 16   Luzon, Philippines.....   1,621  7.7

1991   Feb 1     Pakistan/Afghanistan...   1,200  6.8

1992   Mar 13    E Turkey...............   4,000  6.2

1992   June 28   S Cal..................       1  7.5

1992   Dec 12    Flores Ist., Indonesia.   2,500  7.5

1993   July 12   Japan, off Hokkaido....     200  7.7

1993   Sept 29   S India, Maharashtra...   9,748  6.4

1994   Jan 17    Northridge, CA.........      61  6.8

1994   Feb 15    Indonesia, S Sumatra...     215  7.0

1994   June 6    SW Columbia, Cauca.....   1,000  6.8