Earthquakes, Increasing or Not? - Ryan McCoy

Are earthquakes really on the increase?

     This is a question that has great importance to everyone on this earth, but especially those who are watching for signs of Christ's second coming.  In the words of Jesus himself:

     "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows."  -Matthew 13:8

     "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."  -Luke 21:25-28

     You can see that before the end of time here on earth that earthquakes will be one of the many signs that Christ is about to return. 

     After the tsunami in Indonesia, I was curious about whether there really is an increase in earthquakes happening around the world.  We live in an age of great technology and "increased knowledge."  There is really only one source for "reliable" earthquake information, and that is the USGS/NEIC, or so I thought.  As I read through their answers to questions like,  "Why are we having so many earthquakes? Has earthquake activity been increasing?" (USGS website), and"Are Earthquakes Really on the Increase?" (USGS/NEIC website), I did not see any graphs with complete data. (Charts have since been posted.) This interested me.  Why wouldn't they have complete graphs?  So I decided to put the data they make available all together and graph the results for myself.  It took a while to research all the details, and actually I spent about 2 weeks learning much information and detail about earthquakes, seismometers, and how they work, and their sensitivity, etc.  The more I have learned about seismometers, the more I understand why they choose to carefully chart results that are favorable to the public.  They are very carefully not answering the questions completely on both of these sites.  They carefully list Major and Great magnitude earthquakes (which have remained fairly constant in frequency), but they are clearly omitting the major increase in almost every other category of quake.  While they state a partial truth, it is not complete.  The truth is earthquakes with a magnitude 7.0 or greater have decreased slightly.  But, they are ignoring the rest of the facts.  Look at the graphs below, earthquakes in almost every other magnitude category are on the rise.  Some of them at significant levels.  Now obviously there appears to be in increase in very small (magnitude 2.0 and smaller) earthquakes, and the NEIC is right in the fact that they have placed thousands more sensitive seismometers around the world.  But in almost every other magnitude in the middle of the graph, quakes are on the increase.  They are trying to give the public a false sense of security by saying that the increase is due to more sensors.  This is like saying there is more terrorism because we have more TV's.  What most people don't know is that you can build a rather simple seismometer at home that can detect magnitude 5.0 earthquakes on your own continent, and 6.0 earthquakes around the world!  Amateur seismologists have been running their own seismographs, and charting these earthquakes for many, many, years now.  If these quakes can be detected by even amateurs, then why is there still in increase in these magnitude quakes?  "In spite of its simplicity, the Lehman seismograph is capable of recording earthquakes of Richter magnitude 5 which occur in the continental United States, and magnitude 6 elsewhere."

    In conclusion, I think the USGS/NEIC is carefully choosing their words and carefully creating their graphs to avoid public alarm.  Worldwide earthquake activity ismost definitelyon the increase.

The results I found are listed below in the graphs.

USGS links

• Why are we having so many earthquakes? (USGS) (You will notice they don't answer the question completely. They carefully list Major and Great magnitude earthquakes (which have remained fairly constant), but they are clearly omitting the major increase in the Moderate to Strong earthquakes.) http://earthquake.usgs.gov/faq/myths.html#8

• Are Earthquakes Really on the Increase? (USGS/NEIC) (You will notice they don't answer the question completely. They carefully list Major and Great magnitude earthquakes (which have remained fairly constant), but they are clearly omitting the major increase in the Moderate to Strong earthquakes.) http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/general/increase_in_earthquakes.html

• Earthquake Facts and Statistics:  http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqstats.html

• All recent Earthquakes within the United States:  http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqs/

• 2005 Earthquakes 7.0 and larger: http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eq_depot/2005/2005_stats.html

• Largest Earthquakes in the world since 1900:  http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/10maps_world.html

• Earthquakes with 1,000 or More Deaths since 1900
  http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/world_deaths.php

• USGS Graphs (Finally posted.  However, notice they carefully use dots to disguise the increase still.)
  http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/graphs.html

Amateur Seismographs:

• Lehman Seismometer (make your own!): http://psn.quake.net/lehman.txt

• Lehman Seismometer (modifications): http://psn.quake.net/lehmnmod.html

• How to Build an Inexpensive Seismometer (and many other Seismology links): http://www.infiltec.com/seismo/

• The Pacific Tsunami Museum
• Tsunami - Receding waters, Kalutara Beach, Sri Lanka - before and after satellite photos
• Tsunami - Banda Aceh Shore, Indonesia - before and after satellite photos
• Couple's final photos "an echo from the grave" - The Seattle Times
• TSUNAMI PHOTOS RECOVERED  - More about the same couple from CNN
• Flickr: Photos tagged with tsunami - thousands of very moving personal tsunami photos from Sri Lanka and Indonesia
• DigitalGlobe | QuickBird Images of Tsunami Sites - many before and after satellite photos