A Change of Seismic Importance
In Matthew 24:4-8 Christ was speaking to His disciples just before His arrest, trial and crucifixion. His disciples had just asked Him what the sign of His coming and of the end of the age would be, and He responded at length (what He said runs through Matthew 26:2). The signs given in Matthew 24:4-8 are:
- False Christ’s who deceive many
- Wars and rumors of wars (a multitude of conflicts) including nation against nation (entities that have territory and flags), and kingdom against kingdom (people groups that may or may not have territory and organization)
- Famines (dramatic and widespread hunger to the point of death)
- Pestilences (diseases, whether they are diseases we know, diseases we thought we had conquered that are rebounding, or diseases that are new to us)
- Earthquakes in various (many and diverse) places
Christ ends the passage by saying that when we see all these things (in their fullness), this is “the beginning of sorrows”. In other words, the events are part of what we can consider to be the last days. Are we in the last days? In my opinion, we definitely are. Have we seen all the above list expressed in their fullness? No, but we seem to be on the verge of doing so. False Christs? No, not unless you count politicians and allied pastors who have led people away from the teachings of Christ while invoking His name. Wars and rumors or wars? Yes, but it will get much worse, particularly in a world where the US has walked away from guaranteeing the security of its allies. Famines? Yes, but it will get much worse in a world with no USAID and with climate change suppressing agricultural production. Pestilences? Yes, and it seems to be on the verge of getting much, much worse with diseases we thought we’d beat making a comeback (measles, whooping cough, polio, tuberculosis, etc., etc.). Earthquakes? A month ago I would have said no. But things have changed so much and so quickly that “no” is now a “yes”, though we appear to be just at the beginning of a global expansion in seismic activity.
Our age of dramatically increased seismic activity seems to have initiated with the massive spike in earthquakes and magma intrusions in Iceland in 2024, though to be fair Iceland (which has had up to 18,000 earthquakes in a week), has constant seismic activity. That said, Iceland does not have constant eruptions and flows of magma, so the 2024 eruptions and lava flows were very notable occurrence. Now, while Iceland lava flows are still active, we see apparent magma intrusions in Italy, where Mount Aetna has erupted and a swarm of earthquakes has beset the Campi Flegrei. The Campi Flegrei caldera holds an underground super-volcano that, if it were to erupt in the heavily populated area, would trigger a massive catastrophe. Magma is also apparently on the move nearby in Greece, where the Santorini caldera has hosted an ongoing swarm of earthquakes indicative or magma movement. The Santorini volcano last erupted in 1950.
The African Rift Valley has seen an increase in earthquakes and potential magma movement. Recently a wide crack opened up the earth for a great distance in Kenya. In Yellowstone National Park in the US, magma appears to be on the move, flowing from beneath the Yellowstone caldera to northeast of the caldera, in what seems to be unusual and perhaps serious movement. Magma intrusions are, in fact, seemingly on the rise in many places around the world. Volcanic activity is not that unusual; according to the Smithsonian Institute there are currently 44 volcanos in continuing eruption status. But we are seeing apparent magma movements in enough new and unusual places to credibly wonder if we haven’t started some new phase in seismic action. If this is the case and we come to see disruptive and dangerous levels of earthquakes and volcanic activity, then we can tic the “earthquakes in various places” box. That would mean we’re able to tic four out of five boxes, meaning that we will soon enough see a dramatic increase in false Christs – if, that is, we don’t count the politicians and pastors that are already proclaiming false Christs.
Seismic and volcanic activity in the world bear watching. But then, if a super-volcano does erupt with devastating consequences, we’ll know what is upon us whether we’re watching closely or not.
Planet in Distress 
Good to see th