Continuing from the previous post with more information and comparisons of the three popular theories against Andean South America. The first 8 items were listed on the previous post—we continue here with #9:
9. There are earthquakes in both Mesoamerica and Andean South America, each area being on the western Pacific coastal lands of the Pacific Ocean, where most of the earth’s quakes appear, especially the most severe. In fact, 90% of the world’s earthquakes occur in this zone. Consequently, in the Western Hemisphere, from Alaska down to Chile, coastal cities, towns and villages have been heavily hit over the course of time with costly and deadly earthquakes. The word “earthquake” was first used in English in the 1640s, coming from “quavinge of erpe,” meaning “earthquake,” though literally it is “shaking of the earth” in Middle English. The word, as we see and use it today came from the 13th century eorthequakynge, eorðdyn, eorðhrernes, eorðbeofung, eorðstyrung literally meaning a “movement or vibration of a part of the earth’s crust.”
It is interesting to see what the disciple Nephi wrote of the severity of the destruction following the crucifixion: “that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder” (3 Nephi 8:6, emphasis added); “the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth” (vs12); “Many were shaken till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate” (vs14); “And thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth” (vs17); “and the quakings of the earth did cease—for behold, they did last for about the space of three hours (vs19).
Nephite roads were broken up and spoiled at the time of the crucifixion
Some of the results of this quaking of the whole earth were: “And the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough” (vs13); “And behold, the rocks were rent in twain; they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments, and in seams and in cracks, upon all the face of the land” (vs18).
Despite Heartland and Great Lakes theorists claiming there were no “earthquakes” mentioned in the scriptural record during this destructive three-hour period, Mormon makes it clear that these were earthquakes, though that word was not used—no doubt because it was unknown in Mormon’s time and it is doubtful Joseph Smith would have experienced an earthquake living in New England.
In fact, “While minor earthquakes do happen from time to time in New England, tremors that are felt by a large number of people and cause damage are rare. A recent earthquake in 2020 was originally measured as a magnitude 4.2 on the Richter scale by the USGS before they changed it to a 3.6—according to the USGS, anything at 3.0 or under is not felt by people; a 3.5 is barely felt and viewed as a slight movement of hanging objects; a 4.0 feels like a large truck passing by and a 5.0 can rattle dishes and break windows, and is felt and viewed as an earthquake.
Since 1943, the largest earthquake to hit Vermont (the state Joseph Smith was born in and where he lived until age 10 or 11, prior to moving to Palmyra) was 2.4—in Palmyra, where Joseph lived until he was married and obtained the plates, a handful of earthquakes occurred each year, with magnitudes in the 1.9 to 2.1 range.
The areas in New England, western New York, and northern Pennsylvania where Joseph Smith lived through the period of translating the plates. Note the average earthquake magnitude (in black) that these states
According to Paul Caruso, a geophysicist with the USGS, New England does not feel earthquakes because of their distance from the fault lines along western coastal lands (like California). What is felt on occasion in New England and the Heartland is the result of what scientists call Isostatic Rebound. On the other hand, Charles Scharnberger, a retired professor of geology at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, says “We don’t know what causes earthquakes in the northeastern part of North America.”
The point is, that these earthquakes are small and the vast majority unfelt—many states in the east average quakes in the 1.5 to 3.0 range.
Thus, it is not likely Joseph Smith would have thought in terms of “earthquakes” when translating the plates. Thus the word “earthquake” was not used in his translation as it would not have appeared in Mormon’s writing—but the effects of powerful “earthquakes” are, without question, written about in 3 Nephi 8, which eliminates both the Heartland and Great Lakes as the Land of Promise.
10. Also, Mesoamerica and Andean South America both have volcanoes, being on these western Pacific coastal lands that are part of this Ring of Fire, which is a region around much of the coastal lands of the Pacific Ocean, where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. It is a horseshoe-shaped ring or belt nearly 25,000 miles long and up to about 300 miles wide. It got its “Ring of Fire” name from all of the volcanoes that lie along this belt—about 75% of the world's volcanoes are located here, many underwater.
Red Arrows indicate directional movement of plates—as an example, the Pacific plate pushes against the Nazca plate, which then subducts (goes under) the more stationary South American plate, which then creates upward movement and mountain growth; White circle shows no plates exist in the inner United States west of the Pacific coast—hence, no earthquakes or volcanoes in the Heartland or Great Lakes locations
When tectonic plates move against each other at boundaries, typically along a coast, they cause earthquakes and eruptions of magma, which form into volcanoes that afterward erupt into volcanic activity, spewing more magna, creating more volcanoes.
In order for the numerous occurrences described by the disciple Nephi of the events in the Land of Promise at the time of the crucifixion which shows, without a doubt, that many volcanoes had to have been involved along a convergent boundary of a tectonic plate movement, where the Pacific Plate is the most active
The boundary type that produces the most earthquakes is convergent boundaries where two continental plates collide—the earthquakes are deep and very powerful. This exists between the Pacific plate and the South American plate. In general, the deepest and the most powerful earthquakes occur at plate collision (or subduction—where an oceanic plate dives under a continental plate) zones at convergent plate boundaries
Each tectonic plate is free-floating and can move independently. Earthquakes and volcanoes are the direct result of the movement of tectonic plates at fault lines. The term fault is used to describe the boundary between tectonic plates. Most of the earthquakes and volcanoes around the Pacific ocean basin—a pattern known as the “ring of fire”—are due to the movement of tectonic plates in this region. Other observable results of short-term plate movement include the gradual widening of the Great Rift lakes in eastern Africa and the rising of the Himalayan Mountain range. The motion of plates can be described in four general patterns:
Showing the frequency of earthquakes (yellow dots) and the obvious fact that none of these appear in the Heartland or Great Lakes or New England areas
Tectonic plates, also known as Lithospheric plates, are part of this planetary scale thermal convection system. The energy source for plate tectonics is Earth's internal heat while the forces moving the plates are the “ridge push” and “slab pull” gravity forces.
Thus, with this understanding of tectonic plates and their movement, earthquakes and volcanoes cannot be explained through any other means, i.e., there were no earthquakes to speak of in the Heartland and Great Lakes area, and certainly no volcanoes—yet, the disciple Nephi is very specific in Mormon’s abridgement on describing earthquakes in the Land of Promise, as well as describing the result of enormous volcanic activity. This leads us to the reason why Heartland and Great Lake theorists claim no such volcanoes are mentioned in the scriptural record and deny they are part of the destruction in 3 Nephi—they don’t exist in their model locations, so they cannot accept that they exist in the scriptural record.
(See the next post regarding these lists that theorists have created for their individual models, yet do not even write about or discuss those clearly stated items in the scriptural record)
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