Those figures are amazing.
I am going back to the Kingdom Hall straight away!
Earthquakes: Interesting?
by TheOldHippie 17 Replies latest watchtower bible
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rolling rock
Obviously GW Bush is to blame.
Well da!
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Leolaia
Black Sheep....According to the USGS list of "selected" earthquakes that projecthorizon.com used as a source, the earthquake in question is a June 10, 1996 quote in the Aleutian Islands that had a magnitude of 7.9. According to the more complete 1996 list you provided, this earthquake had a body wave magnitude of 5.9, a surface wave magnitude of 7.1, and a moment magnitude of 7.2 and 7.3. But a larger earthquake occurred on February 17, 1996 in Indonesia. It had a body wave magnitude of 6.5, a surface wave magnitude of 8.1, and moment magnitude of 8.1. And if you look at the rest of the list, there are many other earthquakes over 6.0. So yes, the source used by horizonproject.com is, as the USGS says, a selective list.
According to the USGS FAQ, "Moment magnitude (Mw) is considered the best scale to use for larger earthquakes as the Ms saturates at about magnitude 8. Moment magnitude is measured over the broad range of frequencies present in the earthquake wave spectrum rather than the single frequency sample that the other magnitude scales us".
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Earnest
I've found a great site - the Significant Earthquake Database - which includes "destructive earthquakes from 2150 B.C. to the present that meet at least one of the following criteria: Moderate damage (approximately $1 million or more), 10 or more deaths, Magnitude 7.5 or greater, Modified Mercalli Intensity X or greater, or the earthquake generated a tsunami".
Entering the parameters for earthquakes of magnitude 6 to 8 for the period 1990 to 2008 shows that in the years 1990-1999 there was an average of 20 such earthquakes a year while in the period 2000-2008 there was an average of 24 such earthquakes a year. It is an increase but hardly on the scale suggested by the horizon project graph.
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viva
It should be noted that the U.S. Geological Survey DOES NOT SUPPORT and IS NOT AFFILIATED with the Horizon Project. The USGS has issued a public statement to the effect that earthquakes are not increasing in number or magnitude in direct response to the Horizon Project. The USGS is a federal agency and anyone has access to thier data. They can interpret the data as they wish, even if it is wrong, as is the case with the Horizon Project.
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
If an 8.0 earthquake were to hit the middle of the US this year, it would cause massive death and destruction. Would that signal that we are in the "Last Days"? How could it indicate such since it already happened once on the New Madrid Fault in 1812? What about San Francisco in 1906? Both events were BEFORE 1914. Earthquakes like that led Chuck T. Rustle to believe that "the time of the end" began in 1799.
So, that the fascinating thing about the "Last Days", they just last... and last... and last.
B the X
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jwfacts
All you need to do is look at the site thehorizonproject.com to realise these figures cannot be trusted, it is a conspiracy theory site. These sort of sites propogate fear and misinformation much the same way that the Watchtower does and sadly leads to ignorance.
The figures about earthquakes sources a list from a reputable site, but fails to mention that this is not a complete list of every earthquake over 6.0 for the last 100 years. The list is simply more complete from the last few years.
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skin
This "thehorizonproject" earthquake chart raised its ugly head again last weekend at our Public Talk. I couldn’t believe it!. The speaker had printed a copy of this chart and held it up for all to see the sudden increase of earthquakes since the year 2000. He used it as proof that we most be so close to the end. It’s a shame that even Elders don’t research what it is they are talking about.
Six months ago I received the "thehorizonproject" email from another Witness and I replied to him to take another look at the source data from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/historical. It said that this source data is “Selected earthquakes of general historic interest”. So this so called proof chart is incorrectly generated from only a selection of earthquakes. I then went on direct him to this page from that same site: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/faq/?categoryID=6&faqID=110 where it says this: “Although it may seem that we are having more earthquakes, earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have remained fairly constant throughout this century and, according to our records, have actually seemed to decrease in recent years”. His reply was positive; he admitted to not researching into it and then went on to say how the Faithful slave warns us about believing all information on the internet, etc.
I would love to show these facts to this Public speaker, but I think I would be viewed as one that is trying to find fault with the teaching, and then they would not listen or want to listen. Especially since this teaching serves the interests of the watchtower so well.