Watchman Willie Martin Archive



�� 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

��������������������� Recent Earthquakes

��� Source: Global Volcanism Network, Smithsonian Institution

Date������������ Location���������������� mag.

Jan 15, 1993���� Kushiro, Japan���������� 7.0

Mar 6����������� Santa Cruz Islands������ 7.1

Mar 6����������� Fiji�������������������� 6.7

Mar 6����������� Solomon Islands��������� 6.5

Mar 12���������� Fiji������������������� �6.5

July 12���������� off Hokkaldo, Japan����� 7.7

Aug 8����������� Agana, Guam������������� 8.0

Aug 10����������� SW S 1st. New Zealand��� 7.1

Sept 10��������� Chiapas, Mexico��������� 7.2

Sept 20���������� near Klamath Falls, OR�� 5.8

Sept 29�������� ��Maharashtra, S India���� 6.4

Oct 11����������� off Tokyo coast��������� 6.5

Oct 13����������� E Papua New Guinea������ 7.2

Oct 13���������� Papua New Guinea�������� 6.8

Oct 24����������� near Acapulo, Mexico���� 6.6

Oct 25���������� Papua New Guinea�� ������7.0

Nov 13����������� off coast of Kamchatka�� 7.1

Jan 17, 1994���� Northridge, CA���������� 6.8

Jan 19����������� Iran Jaya, Indonesia���� 6.9

Jan 21���������� Halmahera, Indonesia���� 7.3

Feb 12����������� SW Vanuatu�������������� 7.2

Feb 15��� ��������S Sumatra, Indonesia���� 7.0

Mar 14���������� Mex/Guatemala border���� 6.8

June 6���������� Cauca, SW Columbia������ 6.8

June 9����������� La Paz, Bolvia���������� 8.2



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