Were the Earthquakes Really so Common?

In another attempt to lessen the true meaning of the scriptures, Hugh Nibley wrote: “Highways broken up, and the level roads spoiled, and many smooth places become rough (3 Nephi 8:13, 17-18) needs no commentary since such are the commonest of all earthquakes phenomena. The remarkable thing about such statements is their moderation.” (Nibley, p 268)

However, the scriptures do not suggest moderation of any kind. In fact, they tell us a far different story. Consider that the Nephites had a history of being in this land for around 600 years when the disciple Nephi wrote about the destruction that occurred about 33 A.D. He described those events with the following statements:

• A storm that was worse than any ever known in the land (3 Nephi 8:5)
• Lightning that was worse than any ever known in the land (3 Nephi 8:7)
• The whole face of the land was changed (3 Nephi 8:12)
• The face of the whole earth became deformed (3 Nephi 8:17)
• 6 cities sunk into the earth
• 3 cities were covered with seas
• 1 city was covered with earth
• 5 cities burned with fire (there was no electricity or gas to start these totally destructive fires--it would have taken continual lightning strikes)

Foreseeing this destruction, Samuel the Lamanite wrote regarding the land: "Yea, they shall be rent in twain, and shall ever after be found in broken fragements upon the face of the whole earth, yea, both above the earth and beneath." (Helaman 14:22)

Keep in mind that this destruction occurred in both the Land Southward and the Land Northward, a distance of many hundreds of miles, and the face of the whole earth was deformed, (3 Nephi 8:17) in a destructive event that lasted three hours. (3 Nephi 8:19)

By comparison, earthquake destruction known to modern man occurs over a period of about a minute or less. The horrendous 7.3 earthquake and destruction that hit Haiti in January of this year, called “a catastrophe of major proportions,” lasted between 30 and 40 seconds (some say it lasted one minute which is considered a long time and the cause of so much damage) and was felt 200 miles away, but the damage was centered in a 10-mile area.

The 1994 Northridge 6.7 earthquake lasted between 10 and 20 seconds and created millions of dollars in damage; the 1971 Sylmar 7.0 earthquake lasted about 30 seconds; the 1989 San Francisco 7.0 earthquake lasted about 25 seconds. Between March 18 and March 24 of this year, there were approximately 800 earthquakes in the world under 5.4 on the Richter Scale, about 90% of these in the 2.0 to 4.0 range. It is hard to imagine the type of destruction that a major earthquake “that shook the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder” (3 Nephi 8:6) and "exceeding great quaking of the whole earth” (3 Nephi 8:12,17) that lasted for three hours (3 Nephi 8:19), but the disciple Nephi described it the best he could—-and such a notable event that he took 21 verses to write about it.

It is hard to imagine these prophets wrote in moderation. The destruction listed is far greater and far more widespread than anything ever listed in history. While other catastrophes mention a city here or there or several villages being destroyed, this destruction totally wiped off the face of the earth without leaving a trace of 10 major cities. In addition, five were destroyed in fires, and others were completely leveled with nothing but a jumble of rocks and earth left to mark their place (3 Nephi 8:14). By comparison, numerous buildings were destroyed in a compact city during the recent Haiti earthquake, but the damage was localized to the city and surrounding villages in a ten mile radius.

We talk today about earthquakes that last a few seconds and cause untold damages—-but the Nephite earthquake destruction lasted three hours! While the prophet telling us of this event was far more interested (2 Nephi 9:2, 9, 11) in the cause (wickedness) than the results (physical destruction), he still gives us a clear picture of how vast and widespread was this destruction and nowhere does it show moderation or that the event was not significant in altering the face of the entire land of promise.