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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:



     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?Why are we having so many earthquakes? Has earthquake activity been increasing?" (USGS website), and"Are Earthquakes Really on the Increase?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.

Earthquakes from 1990 - 2005
Magnitude 1990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005Increase or decrease in % over 15 yearsRemarks:
8.0 to 9.90000221010110121100.00%
7.0 to 7.91816131211181416111814151314141055.56%(Decrease)
6.0 to 6.910996166137146183149120117116158126130140141144132.11%
5.0 to 5.9161714571498142615421318122211139791104134512431218120315151699105.07%(Decrease)
4.0 to 4.9443743355128499945188003875679037303697280458084858484621088813917313.66%
3.0 to 3.92517299046924326504151514923451359455605478461517005762479329173364.44%
2.0 to 2.92364292530665393537138422391240040914201375841626419772763164638196.19%
1.0 to 1.947480188611707796452953888057151026944113725061344265.49%
0.1 to 0.90139171914105511013410300.00%
No Magnitude50543863407239971944182621863415242620963120293829373608293986717.15%(Decrease)
Total16590164841952421476193712100719938198722168820832222562353427454314193119430475183.69%Total earthquake increase
Estimated Deaths5205632103920100961634798058930699430226622312135716853381928401089354171.65%Total deathtoll increase

USGS links

Amateur Seismographs:

Other interesting Links:

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