“There Will Be Great Earthquakes”

THE year was 33 of our Common Era. The place? Jerusalem. One of Jesus Christ’s disciples had just spoken admiringly of the fine buildings in that ancient city’s temple area. But in response Jesus declared: “Do you behold these great buildings? By no means will a stone be left here upon a stone and not be thrown down.”​—Mark 13:1, 2.

With that declaration in mind, Jesus’ apostles Peter, James, John and Andrew later approached Christ on the Mount of Olives. “Tell us,” they asked, “When will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are destined to come to a conclusion?” As Jesus then explained, that “sign” would have a number of features. Citing one of these, Christ said: “There will be earthquakes in one place after another.” Or, as the gospel writer Luke puts it: “There will be great earthquakes.”​—Mark 13:3-8; Luke 21:11.

And So It Occurred

Earthquakes, large and small, did take place prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Romans in 70 C.E. A “great earthquake” took place in the vicinity of Jerusalem on the day of Jesus’ resurrection, when an angel descended from heaven and rolled away the stone that had been in front of Christ’s tomb. (Matt. 28:1, 2) Quite some years later, while the apostle Paul and his associate Silas were imprisoned at Philippi, their prayers and songs of praise to God were answered by means of a “great earthquake.” It opened the prison doors and loosened all the prisoners’ bonds. This occurrence led to the conversion of the jailer and his household to Christianity.​—Acts 16:25-34.

Yet, other earthquakes occurred prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 C.E. Wrote the noted Bible commentator Albert Barnes: “Many of these are mentioned as preceding the destruction of Jerusalem. Tacitus mentions one in the reign of Claudius, at Rome; and says that, in the reign of Nero, the cities of Laodicea, Hierapolis, and Colosse, were overthrown; and the celebrated Pompeii was overwhelmed, and almost destroyed by an earthquake, Annales, 15, 22. Others are mentioned as occurring at Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, and Samos.”

Not Just Dead History

Assuredly, then, “great earthquakes” did occur before 70 C.E. But is that all there is to Christ’s prophecy? No indeed. Jesus’ prophetic words about earthquakes have special meaning for people of the twentieth century. This is evident from the nature of the question Jesus was answering. The gospel writer Matthew put the query this way: “Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?”​—Matt. 24:3.

Accordingly, Jesus answered with his future presence also in mind. Since that presence would be associated with “the conclusion of the system of things” existing at that time, his reply also pointed to the distant future. (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43) So, while earthquakes did precede the end of the Jewish system of things back in 70 C.E., a far greater future fulfillment was certain as regards Jesus’ forecast: “There will be great earthquakes.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses have learned through Bible study that Jesus Christ’s presence as heavenly King and the “time of the end” for the present system of things began in 1914 C.E. (Dan. 12:9) But what about the foretold earthquakes?

Interestingly, for a period of 1,059 years (856 to 1914 C.E.), reliable sources list only 24 major earthquakes, with 1,972,952 fatalities. But compare that with the accompanying partial list citing 43 instances of earthquakes, in which 1,579,209 persons died during just the 62 years from 1915 to 1976 C.E. Here, year by year, are the locations of some of the quakes of this period, along with statistics on the fatalities:

The dramatic upsurge in earthquake activity since 1914 helps to prove that we are living in the time of Jesus’ presence. These mighty temblors fulfill his prophecy: “There will be great earthquakes.”

[Box on page 11]

YEAR LOCATION DEATHS

1915 Italy 29,970

1920 China 180,000

1923 Japan 143,000

1927 China 200,000

1932 China 70,000

1933 U.S.A. 115

1935 India (now Pakistan) 60,000

1939 Chile 30,000

1939 Turkey 23,000

1946 Turkey 1,300

1946 Japan 2,000

1948 Japan 5,131

1949 Ecuador 6,000

1950 India 1,500

1953 Turkey 1,200

1953 Greece 424

1954 Algeria 1,657

1956 Afghanistan 2,000

1957 Iran (Northern) 2,500

1957 Iran (Western) 2,000

1960 Chile 5,700

1960 Morocco 12,000

1962 Iran 10,000

1963 Yugoslavia 1,100

1964 Alaska 131

1966 Turkey 2,529

1968 Iran 11,588

1970 Turkey 1,086

1970 Peru 66,794

1971 U.S.A. 65

1972 Iran 5,057

1972 Nicaragua 6,000

1973 Mexico (Western) 52

1973 Mexico (Central) 700

1974 Pakistan 5,200

1975 China 200

1975 Turkey 2,312

1976 Guatemala 23,000

1976 Italy 900

1976 Bali 600

1976 China 655,235

1976 Philippines 3,373

1976 Turkey 3,790