The Cause and Significance of Earthquakes
By D. H. Kress
THOUSANDS of people who were hurried out of their comfortable homes during the earthquake in San Francisco found the enforced outdoor life a real blessing in disguise. The health authorities stated that in spite of the rain and inclement weather which lingered most unseasonably this year, the health of the city had never been so good. The earthquake was therefore not altogether an unmingled curse. “When thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” The curse comes for man's sake; it never comes without cause. Considerable alarm is still felt by the people of San Francisco. The views expressed by noted scientists regarding the cause of this and similar disturbances certainly will not tend to increase the confidence of the people in the earth's stability and security. While there does not seem to be any agreement among them regarding the causes of these disturbances, they are all agreed upon one point,—that what has occurred may again occur at any moment and with great severity. This is not at all soothing to the future dwellers of this unfortunate city. But what has occurred in San Francisco may occur at any place on the earth's surface. The simplest explanation of the causes of these terrific internal commotions and disturbances of the earth may be gathered by a careful reading of Biblical history. At the time of the flood not only did the rain descend in torrents from the heavens, but all the fountains of the deep were also broken up. Undoubtedly with terrific force10water gushed out of the bowels of the earth, carrying with it huge boulders, rocks, and earth. Forests containing mammoth trees were torn up and buried under this mass. These have since been converted into coal beds. The coal has produced petroleum and gases. When these are caused to ignite, rocks are intensely heated, limestone is formed, and iron ore melted. When water, lime, and these heated elements in the earth meet, the immense pressure produced causes loud, muffled explosions, the ground trembles and heaves, and in places rises in waves. This was experienced in the earthquake at San Francisco. At some points this intense internal pressure finds a vent through a Vesuvius or some other crater, and huge, heated rocks, melted ore, and lava are thrown many feet into the air with terrific and indescribable force, often burying entire cities. This gives some idea of what is at present taking place in the bowels of the earth, and shows the insecurity of earth's inhabitants. Where there is no vent to this internal pressure, upheavals and earthquakes are more apt to occur. In the past, mountains have been known to mysteriously make their appearance, and whole cities and villages have disappeared. When these commotions take place in the ocean, the earth beneath is forced up, and new islands may even appear; thus tidal waves are often formed which are almost as destructive as earthquakes. In the past God has warned the people of the earth of these impending judgments before he permitted them to come. In the time of the flood, Noah warned the inhabitants of the earth for one hundred and twenty years, and called upon them to cease to do evil and learn to do well. Had they heeded the warning, as did the inhabitants of Nineveh when warned by Jonah, the flood would never have come upon them. Before the cities of the plain could be destroyed, angels came and took Lot by the hand and hastened him and all he had out of the city, telling him to escape for his life, and to look not behind him. “As it was in the days of Lot, . . . even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” What has been in the past will be again; similar causes will bring about similar results. As the wickedness of our modern cities increases, and it becomes evident that the inhabitants are throwing off all restraint, we may expect to witness a repetition of the judgments of the past upon these cities; when this corruption becomes general, we may expect the judgments to become general. That this time will come, the Word of God predicts. “The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm. . . . The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world and all that dwell therein.” But before this can take place, “the Lord himself [not an angel, as in the case of Lot] shall descend from heaven, . . . the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air,” to be escorted to the place he has been preparing for the righteous. The Lord will say, “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.” Few will look upon these visitations as judgments and warnings from God, or as indications of the coming general destruction and the near coming of Christ. Scientists will scoff and bring forth theories opposed to this. Peter, in speaking of this, says: “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished; but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” Just as truly as water was used to destroy the earth's inhabitants in the time of Noah, so surely will fire be the means of the destruction of the wicked in the last days. “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” That we shall see the fulfilment of this, there can be no doubt; and as earth's internal disturbances and commotions become more frequent and more severe, we may know we have reached the time when universal iniquity abounds, and God is calling upon men and women to flee from the wrath to come. As yet mercy is mingled with wrath; God's voice and appeals may still be heard in the midst of these judgments, calling upon men and women to cease to do evil and learn to do well, for their own sakes. He is unwilling that any should perish. As men misinterpret these judgments, refuse to heed these solemn appeals, and harden their hearts, there will finally be judgment without mercy. We shall then witness the unmingled wrath of God poured out without mixture, without mercy. “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?” Not one Christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem. The Saviour had said, “When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh: then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains.” This was to the early Christians the signal of escape. They heeded the warning, watched for the signal, and as a result not one lost his life. So to-day, there are signs of impending dangers, but none who heed the signals held out need perish in the judgments that are coming upon these wicked cities. They will not be found in them when these cities are visited with these judgments; and when the universal destruction comes, those who have heeded the warnings will be secure in the mansions above.