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destroyed by quakes in Turkey was
less than $1 00 million. By contrast,
three earthquakes in Turkey in 1970
and 1971, which killed only 2,000
people, cost about $500 million–
some 5 percent of Turkey's budget
then.
Now take the cost of simila r-size
eartbquakes in more developed areas.
The repair costs in the Skopje, Yugo–
slavia, disaster in 1963, were about
$600 million. The 1976 quake in
ltaly cost more than $3.5 billion.
Major metropolitan a reas of the
earth have up to this moment been
fortunate. As damaging as the San
Fernando (Los Angeles) earthquake
of 1971 was (6.6 on the Richter
Scale, 64 killed, $1 billion in property
damage), the seismic energy it re–
leased was a thousand times smaller
than sorne truly great earthquakes,
sueh as San Francisco ( 1906) , Tokyo
(1
923), Chile ( 1960), Alaska ( 1964)
and China ( 1976) .
Beyond heavy economic costs,
major earthquakes in the 1980s could
abruptly change world affairs. One
can find numerous examples through
the centuries where disruptive or
disastrous earthquakes in poli tically
or economically unstable nations
triggered collapse or overthrow of
governments, ruined economies or
invited invasion.
Man-Trlggered Earthquakes
Not a ll of the world's earthquakes
are nature's doing. In our century,
mankind's act ivities and powers- for
peace and war- have started to rival
the energy generated in earthquakes.
In fact, man has triggered many
earthquakes.
A number of man-made dams and
reservoi rs a round the world have
triggered small, but noticeable,
earthquakes. Dur ing the decade after
completion of Hoover Dam on Lake
Mead in the Western United States,
more than 6,000 minor tremors regu–
larly shocked a region that had no
pr ior history of quakes.
It is presumed the reason is the
weight of more than 250 square miles
of water upon the earth's crust, or
because water "lubricated" faults
beneath the lake.
Between 1962 and 1965 a flurry of
quakes near Denver, Colorado, fol-
30
lowed the injection of liquid wastes
into a well-hole. The pumping was
discontinued and the quakes eventu–
ally stopped. Apparently liquid injec–
tions lubricated fau lt planes, freeing
locked areas somewhat.
On tbe other hand, sorne geologists
have speculated that dehydration of
sorne rock structures tbrough exces–
sive pumping out of liquids could
lead to "brittle" fracture.
Dr. Thomas Holzer, a U.S. geolog–
ical survey scientist, said : " The
cumulative effect of long-term sub–
stantial ground water depletion con–
ceivably could trigger earthquakes in
sorne tectonically active areas....
Our data and understanding of geo–
physics supports such speculation."
The collapse of underground
mines has a lso been known to induce
small earth movements.
But the greatest man-made trigger
of earthquakes is clearly the explo–
sion of nuclear energy. Thousands of
small quakes have been triggered in
Nevada as a result of U.S. nuclear
tests.
For tbe first time in history, man
must now concern bimself with the
real possibility that nuclear war, or
even unrestricted underground test–
ing of huge nuclear weapons, may
trigger quakes in areas of great built–
up natural strain.
Eartbquake autbority Ambraseys
estimates that a 10 megaton nuclear
weapon (500 times the Hiroshima
yield) buried deeply in solid rock
could produce seismic energy equiva–
Ient of a magnitude 7 earthquake.
Because of mankind's push to
develop superweapons of destruction
it is important to be able to dist in–
guish earthquakes and nuclear explo–
sions from one another seismically.
In fact, the rapid increase in the
number of seismic observatories and
the use of computers in the 1960s,
during negotiations for a nuclear
test-ban treaty, was to determine
whether small underground nuclear
explosions could be detected and dis–
tinguished seismically from earth–
quakes. (Usually tbey can. While a
small nuclear test possibly could be
disguised by conducting it in a seis–
míe area, underground nuclear ex–
plosions generally provide different
wave patterns than earthquakes.)
A colossal amount of energy has
been released in underground nu–
clear testing in the past 30 years.
" It makes one wonder," says Mr.
Ambraseys, "how far human inter–
vention in natural processes on such
an unprecedented scale can go on
before we begin to affect the envi ron–
ment irreversibly."
It also should make one consider
end-time Bible prophecies regarding
earthquakes and man's power to wipe
himself off the eartb.
·
End·Time Earth Shaking Events
Jesus had understanding of the struc–
ture of the earth wben He predicted
of this age, "great earthquakes shall
be in [diverse] places" (Luke
21:11) .
Certainly, earthquakes a re not
unusual in human history. What is
unusual today is their growing im–
pact upon a whole nation or upon tbe
international community of na tions.
In centuries past, in less populated
and less complex social orders, a big
quake could go unnoticed by other
parts of the world or bave little
impact. Not so today.
As this century speeds to a close,
with humanity in possession of the
awesome powers to wipe human life
off the earth, God is beginning to
intervene.
To get the attention of a self–
centered humanity, God is about to
speak through the forces of na ture
and bring about great earth-shaking
natural events. Eartbquakes a nd
earthquake- related phenomena such
as tidal waves and volcanic eruptions
of unimaginable proportions will
bring man toan awareness of the rule
and authority of tbe Almighty.
1t is prophesied!
Read it for yourself: " ... upon the
earth distress of nations, witb per–
plexity; the sea and the waves roar–
ing; men's hearts fai ling tbem for
fea r, and for looking after those
things which are coming upon the
earth . . ." (Luke 21:25-26).
You need to be aware of the warn–
ings of your Bible. You need to know,
now more than ever, what you can do
to escape many of the tragic events
that will befall the earth because o.f
mankind's rebell ion against the laws
and ways of God. o
The
PLAIN TRUTH