Massive Devastation
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The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in the western U.S. was one of the largest in modern times. The first explosion had the force of 24 megatons of thermal energy and flattened 230 square miles. Six-foot-thick trees 15 miles away were mowed like grass!
Sometimes following the initial explosion, which can consist of steam, gas or magma, volcanoes spew what are called pyroclastic flows. Larger volcanoes, like St. Helens, also experience pyroclastic surges. Both consist of hot ash, rock fragments and gas that can reach temperatures of 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit, and travel at an astonishing 150 miles per hour! Surges carry more energy and are mostly rock fragments and super-heated gas. They move faster than flows, but both bring similar devastation. St. Helens generated a series of pyroclastic flows that completely sterilized the soil for six square miles.
Flows are generally followed by what are called lahars. These combine water, rock, sand and mud, which rush down valleys away from volcanoes. They move like rivers, and sometimes have enough force to uproot trees, rip houses from foundations and bridges from their supports. The lahar from St. Helens destroyed 27 bridges, 200 homes, 185 miles of roadway and 15 miles of railway.
Earthquakes also cause landslides. The one that followed the St. Helens eruption was the largest ever recorded. Some areas were buried in up to 600 feet of mud and debris!
The final fallout from an eruption is the ash cloud. A volcano can spew ash over 12 miles above the opening in just 10 minutes. The ash from St. Helens landed over an area of 20,000 square miles. If the volcano is near a city, the weight of the particles can collapse buildings.
The danger and colossal destruction of volcanoes become evident.
Detection is done by checking the “heaving” of the land. This shows how much pressure is building in the magma chamber. An additional method is to record the earthquakes around a volcano. As their frequency and intensity increase, the volcano is destabilized, making conditions ripe for eruption.
This explains why earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are so connected. While the most powerful earthquakes are not caused by volcanoes, all eruptions cause a series of smaller quakes.
Mounting Forces
With St. Helens, a large earthquake triggered an already sensitive volcano to erupt. This is the danger in many volcano-sensitive areas throughout the world. Volcanoes sit silently building pressure until a nearby earthquake becomes the catalyst for eruption. Everything that follows is random—entirely unpredictable.
Another common type of volcano is underwater. The floor of the ocean is littered with them. The entire Hawaiian Islands are a direct result of underwater eruptions. Tsunamis pose the greatest danger with these, and can move at speeds of up to 500 miles per hour. Both earthquakes and volcanoes can create these devastating waves. They usually result from underwater mudslides that follow the eruption. One of the most devastating tsunamis in history was in 2004 in Indonesia. Caused by an earthquake, almost 300,000 people perished.
Following the eruption of the Indonesian volcano Tambora in 1815, normally temperate areas experienced snow every month for a year, resulting in poor crop yields in places as far away as New England. Many believe Tambora was a factor in bringing about the Irish Potato Famine.
The 1883 explosion of Krakatoa, also in Indonesia, was heard over 2,000 miles away! The eruption spewed ash 50 miles high, with the dust cloud repeatedly circling the earth. The surrounding region experienced darkness for over two days. Nothing in nature compares to such an event.
In the Philippines, Mt. Pinatubo erupted in June 1991, displacing millions of people and destroying much farmland. Pinatubo’s ash cloud lowered the average world temperature by almost two degrees Fahrenheit!
An awesome volcanic eruption in Iceland occurred in March 2010. It caused tremendous floods, but also brought fears that it would trigger a second much larger volcano nearby to erupt. Catastrophic global climate changes—were this to occur—enter the picture.
Soon we will see more powerful earthquakes. They will awaken giant volcanoes. These will be the largest eruptions of all time. But earthquakes and volcanoes will not just alter the face of single mountains. They will alter the face of the whole earth!
Earthquakes in the Old Testament
It is critical to understand why God has used earthquakes and volcanoes through history. It is also important to take extra time to set up God’s repeated use of these most powerful of disasters to serve His purpose.
The Bible shows earthquakes reveal God’s presence, His deliverance, His wrath and His power. God will also use them to announce Christ’s Return—to accompany prophetic events, we have already seen this—and to reshape the earth’s surface.
The Bible reveals that just God’s presence can cause Earth to shake. Notice: “Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob” (Psa. 114:7). Volcanoes can be triggered: “The mountains quake at Him, and the hills melt [lava-producing volcanoes]” (Nah. 1:5), and “He looks on the earth, and it trembles: He touches the hills, and they smoke” (Psa. 104:32).
There was thunderous trembling when God gave the Ten Commandments: “And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off” (Ex. 20:18). Now this: “And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly” (Ex. 19:18).
God’s presence generated an earthquake, and likely volcanic activity, to get Israel’s attention.
On another occasion, the faith and courage of King David’s friend Jonathan, and his armor-bearer, moved God. Here is what happened: “And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling” (I Sam. 14:15). The confused, terrified Philistines then turned on each other. The result was thousands died.
Another earthquake, in Numbers 16:1-50, involved 250 Israelite leaders under Korah who rebelled against Moses. The result? “The earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up” (Num 16:32)—with their wives and children. Again, thousands died.
New Testament Earthquakes
Other earthquakes occurred just after the New Testament Church began. Here is one, with Peter and John both speaking and praying: “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto Your servants, that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching forth Your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of...Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy [Spirit], and they spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:29-31). The quake became part of the proof God had heard.
Another earthquake occurred involving the apostle Paul and Silas in Philippi. They had been illegally beaten and imprisoned. But God delivered them: “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed” (Acts 16:26).
While skeptics, and even many theologians, generally dismiss such miracles in Scripture, earthquakes have also accompanied great events, such as Jesus’ crucifixion: “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent” (Matt. 27:51). What happened next? “Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God” (Mt 27:54).
Another great earthquake accompanied Christ’s Resurrection: “And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it” (Matt. 28:2).
Again, earthquakes can also reflect God’s wrath. Let’s read: “Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because He was wroth” (Psa. 18:7). Also, read Jeremiah 10:10, “But the Lord is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting King: at His wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide His indignation.”
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