text:
The Extinction Cycle a.k.a. the Biblical Great Tribulation Period
When the coming Extinction Cycle a.k.a the Biblical Great Tribulation Period actually begins with the Great Earthquakes; Massive Volcanic Eruptions; Tsunamis on a Global scale; a Comet hits the earth; the Magnetic Field weakens and allows Comic Lightening to strike the earth; and all the World Governmental, Corporate Business and Mainstream Religious Leaders, including all of the so called powers-that-be fail to provide Truthful answers; how are the almost 8 billion masses of humanity going to feel, when their lives are about to vanish away?
It is going to be so amazing when these events begin to unfold and the people who present themselves as Leaders of People, (great and powerful), become nothing but mere frighten helpless creatures of earthen clay.
Video Link: The Great Tsunamis When The Earth Turns Over; Sep 9, 2022
Here are some Excellent, actually; they are Most Outstanding Videos from:
Be sure to take time to watch them.
They will help you to understand how God will use the Earth to bring about the Great Tribulation Period with the use of Earthquakes and Volcanoes, including Tsunamis, which are produced by Underwater Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions, throughout the Oceans and Seas of the world.
From: https://www.youtube.com/c/GeologyHub
and: https://www.youtube.com/c/GeologyHub/videos
and: https://twitter.com/HubGeology
and: https://www.facebook.com/GeologyHubYT
and: https://www.youtube.com/c/GeologyHub/community
and: http://prospectingarizona.com/
and: https://www.patreon.com/geologyhub
and amazing photos: https://www.pinterest.com/prospectingarizona/
and their shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/prospectingarizona/
C. Abrahamic Family House in Images
A Big Solar Storm may be coming in 2022:
01.Video Link. Big Solar Storm Coming Soon? Mar 7, 2022
Coronal Mass Ejections from the Sun. I believe eventually, these charged particles will hit the Earth in the Future; that will be so intense, they will penetrate through an opening in the Magnetic Shield, as it will be at a weaken state; then upon striking the Earth, will cause the three Earthquakes, with the 3rd being the Greatest Earthquake in Human History, as is mentioned in the Book of Revelation.
Page on Website: 01C Geomagnetic Storms
Page on Website: 01C Solar Activity
Page on Website: Cosmic Lightning
01.Video Link. Sun Erupts at Earth; Mar 10, 2022
02.Video Link. Solar Eruption; Mar 11, 2022
03.Video Link. Solar Flare; Mar 12, 2022
04.Video Link. CME Impact; Mar 13, 2022
05.Video Link. CME Impact; Mar 14, 2022
06.Video Link. Many Solar Flares; Mar 28, 2022
07.Video Link. 7 Solar Flares; Mar 29, 2022
08.Video Link. Solar Storm Approaching; Mar 30, 2022
09.Video Link. X Class Solar Flare & CME; Mar 30, 2022
10.Video Link. Strong Geomagnetic Storm in Progress; Apr 10, 2022
There are a few verses in the Book of Revelation that have the word: lightning in the text.
It is possible, this Cosmic Lightning could occur and cause Earthquakes, which in turn cause Volcanic Eruptions, which have Volcanic Lightning!!!
Here are the Verses in Revelation. It starts with the Seven Trumpets and Ends with the Seven Vials of the Wrath of God.
1. Revelation 8:5: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
2. Revelation 11:19: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
3. Revelation 16:18 & 21: And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. [21] And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
Here is a brief statement of what I a referring to, with regards to Cosmic Lightning: "For an hour on March 13th, a big crack opened in Earth's magnetic field – one of the biggest in years (For specialists: BsubZ less than -20 nT)," Dr. Tony Phillips of SpaceWeather.com noted.3 "Solar wind poured through the gap, adding its energy to that of the CME which struck earlier in the day. This increases the chances that high-latitude auroras may remain visible at least through the early hours of March 14th." What Dr. Phillips described took place from 21:33 to 22:36 UTC. From: Watchers.News/2022/03/13/CME Hits Earth
Awesome Video; be sure to take time to Watch it…!!!
01.Video Link. Asteroid Impacts; Mar 8, 2022
- 01. Dead Sea Earthquakes 4.0+
- 02. Dead Sea Earthquakes 5.0+
- 03. Israel Earthquakes 4.0+
- 04. Israel Earthquakes 5.0+
- 05. Middle East Earthquakes 5.0+
- 06. Middle East Earthquakes 6.0+
- 07. Middle East Earthquakes 7.0+
It's interesting to see the Earthquakes in the Red Sea area and in the Gulf of Aqaba; as this region will be where the Tongue of the Egyptian Sea is pushed west into Egypt and it will be a single land mass during the Millennial Reign. The Euphrates River will be diverted southwestward across the Palmyrides Mountain Belt; into the Jordan River and flow out the Gulf of Aqaba. This newly formed River will connect with Ezekiel's' Spring and the many other springs that will be created along the eastern escarpment from the Temple Mount.
- 08. Gulf of Aqaba
- 09. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Aqaba
- 10. Gulf of Aqaba Images
- 11. https://biblehub.com/isaiah/11-15.htm
- 12. https://biblehub.com/parallel/isaiah/11-15.htm
- 13. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/isaiah/11-15.htm
- 14. https://biblehub.com/parallel/revelation/16-12.htm
- 15. https://biblehub.com/parallel/zechariah/14-4.htm
- 16. https://biblehub.com/parallel/zechariah/14-5.htm
- 17. https://biblehub.com/parallel/zechariah/14-8.htm
- 18. https://biblehub.com/parallel/zechariah/14-10.htm
After the Great Tribulation Period has ended; the Millennial Reign will begin and all the Islamic nations that were part of the attack upon Israel will be required to send a representative to Israel to worship the King Jesus Christ in the Temple or it could actually mean: the masses of people from these nations. If they do not come, then the Lord will cause the Rain to cease; otherwise, forcing then to come to Jerusalem to worship the King Jesus Christ in the Temple on a yearly basis. It is also possible, these masses of people; who were and may still be: followers of Islam will be forced to buy food produce from Israel, throughout the Millennial Reign.
Zechariah 14:16: And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
- 19. https://biblehub.com/parallel/zechariah/14-16.htm
- 20. https://biblehub.com/parallel/zechariah/14-17.htm
Here are some more Earthquake Links in the Saudi Arabia area. You can clearly see the Earthquakes in the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea.
- 01. Earthquakes 5.0+ for Italy
- 02. Earthquakes 6.0+ for Italy
- 03. Earthquakes 7.0+ for Italy
- 04. List of earthquakes in Italy
- 05. UnderStandingItaly.com
- 06. VolcanoDiscovery.com for Italy
- 07. Volcano Images for Italy
- Avachinsky–Koryaksky (grouped together), Kamchatka, Russia
- Nevado de Colima, Jalisco and Colima, Mexico
- Mount Etna, Sicily, Italy
- Galeras, Nariño, Colombia
- Mauna Loa, Hawaii, US
- Mount Merapi, Central Java, Indonesia
- Mount Nyiragongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Mount Rainier, Washington, US
- Sakurajima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan
- Santa Maria/Santiaguito, Guatemala
- Santorini, Cyclades, Greece
- Taal Volcano, Luzon, Philippines
- Teide, Canary Islands, Spain
- Ulawun, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- Mount Unzen, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
- Vesuvius, Naples, Italy
- 01.Video Link: Volcanic Fire
- 01. The Volcano which Flooded Oregon with Lava; Jan 29, 2022
- 01a. Apolaki Caldera; Mar 4, 2022
- 01b. The Flood of Lava Which Covered Nortern Canada; Mar 14, 2022
- 02. Volcano
- 03. Deccan Traps
- 04. Flood Basalt
- 05. Volcanic Plateau
- 06. Lava Field
- 07. Chilcotin Group
- 08. Columbia River Basalt Group
- 09. Ethiopia-Yemen Continental Flood Basalts
- 10. North Atlantic Igneous Province
- 11. Deccan Traps
- 12. Caribbean large igneous province
- 13. Kerguelen Plateau
- 14. Ontong-Java Plateau
- 15. High Arctic Large Igneous Province
- 16. Paraná and Etendeka Traps
- 17. Karoo and Ferrar Provinces
- 18. Central Atlantic Magmatic Province
- 19. Siberian Traps
- 20. Emeishan Traps
- 21. Vilyuy Traps
- 22. Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen
- 23. Arabian-Nubian Shield
- 24. Mackenzie Large Igneous Province
- 25. Flood Basalts
- 26. Flood Basalts Images
- 27. Flood Basalt from Britannica
- 28.
- 29.
- Continental flood basalts.
- Ethiopia-Yemen Continental Flood Basalts
- Columbia River Basalt Group
- Deccan Traps (India)
- Coppermine River Group (Canadian Shield)
- Midcontinent Rift System, Great Lakes Region, North America
- Paraná and Etendeka traps (Brazil–NE Namibia)
- Brazilian Highlands
- Río de la Plata Craton (Uruguay)
- Karoo-Ferrar (South Africa–Antarctica)
- Siberian Traps (Russia)
- Emeishan Traps (western China)
- Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (eastern United States and Canada, northern South America, northwest Africa)
- North Atlantic Igneous Province (includes basalts in Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, and Faroes)
- High Arctic Large Igneous Province
- Oceanic flood basalts/ oceanic plateaus:
- Azores Plateau (Atlantic Ocean)
- Wrangellia Terrane (Alaska and Canada)
- Caribbean large igneous province (Caribbean Sea)
- Kerguelen Plateau (Indian Ocean)
- Iceland Plateau (Atlantic Ocean)
- Ontong Java Plateau, Manihiki Plateau and Hikurangi Plateau (southwest Pacific Ocean)
- Jameson Land
- Toba Catastrophe 70,000 to 75,000 years ago
- The 1628–1626 BC climate disturbances, usually attributed to the Minoan Eruption of Santorini
- The Hekla 3 eruption of about 1200 BC.
- The Hatepe eruption (sometimes referred to as the Taupō eruption), around AD 180.
- Extreme weather events of 535–536 have been linked to the effects of a volcanic eruption, possibly at Krakatoa, or Ilopango in El Salvador.
- The Heaven Lake eruption of Paektu Mountain, in 969 (± 20 years).
- The 1257 Samalas eruption of Mount Rinjani in 1257.
- An eruption of Kuwae, a Pacific volcano.
- An eruption of Huaynaputina, caused 1601 to be the coldest year in the Northern Hemisphere for six centuries; 1601 consisted of a bitterly cold winter, a cold frosty nonexistent spring, and a cool cloudy wet summer.
- An eruption of Laki, was responsible for up to hundreds of thousands of fatalities throughout the Northern Hemisphere (over 25,000 in England alone), and one of the coldest winters ever recorded in North America.
- The 1883 Eruption of Krakatoa caused average Northern Hemisphere summer temperatures to fall by as much as 1.2 °C (2.2 °F). One of the wettest rainy seasons in recorded history followed in California during 1883–84.
- The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 led to odd weather patterns and temporary cooling in the United States, particularly in the mid-west and parts of the Northeast. Every month in 1992 except for January and February was colder than normal. More rain than normal fell across the West Coast of the United States, particularly California, during the 1991–92 and 1992–93 rainy seasons. The American Midwest experienced more rain and major flooding during the spring and summer of 1993.
SkyWatch Media News: Volcanic Eruptions May 'Escalate' Into Global Catastrophe; Oct 31, 2021
SkyWatch Media News: Coronal Mass Ejection and Volcanic Eruptions; Nov 8, 2021
Anomalous Hole Opens in the Earth's Atmosphere Above the North Pole Dec 7, 2021
Earth's Protective Field is Tilting, pushing the Magnetic Poles towards the Equator Dec 22, 2021
Massive Volcanic Plume Spreads Across the World and Half Way Into Space; Jan 28, 2022
Extreme Solar 'Tsunami' Found Deep Inside the Earth Raises Superstorm Fears; Feb 5, 2022
Volcanic Eruptions Soaring Worldwide-Krakatoa and Etna Explode; Feb 13, 2022
Sun is Erupting Non Stop, and More Gigantic Flares are Incoming-NEW Volcanic Warnings; Feb 27, 2022
03. The LARGEST Galaxy In The Universe – IC 1101; Dec 30, 2021
04. The MOST Terrifying Object In the Universe; Nov 23, 2021
05. 10 INSANE Space Discoveries; April 20, 2021
06. Mysterious Structure at the Edge of the Universe; Nov 17, 2021
The flowing links are from: MagneticReversal.org
Official data from NASA, NOAA, the ESA, and similarly reputable organizations.
1.) The South Pole has already left Antarctica and the North Pole is racing across the Arctic Ocean.
2.) "Earth's Magnetic Poles are getting ready to flip." -Mission Manager, SWARM/ESA
3.) The Magnetic Field began Weakening in 1600.
4.) The Magnetic Field Weakened 10% from the 1800s to 2000.
5.) Earth's Magnetic Field was Weakening 5% per Century, but now is Weakening 5% per Decade.
6.) The Magnetic Field is continuing to Weaken Rapidly.
7.) Magnetic Reversals can occur in less than 100 years.
8.) This was recently Confirmed by the #1 geophysics journal.
10.) 2003 BBC Magnetism Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
11.) 2008 NASA Magnetic Breach: http://science.nasa.gov/
12.) 2011 ESA Magnetism Article: Click Here
13.) Magnetic Field Animation: http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/
14.) 2008 Kyoto Pole Shift Animation: http://geomag.org/info/
15.) 2010 Kyoto Pole Shift Visual: http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/
16.) Magnetic Field Links: http://phys.org/news/2014-06-
17.) – http://gji.oxfordjournals.org/
18.) – http://newscenter.berkeley.
19.) – http://www.scientificamerican.
20.) – http://www.sciencedaily.com/
There is a old saying: "Become aware of your surroundings." There is coming a time on a certain day in the future; when Islam will actually attack Israel in a mass ground military movement. This will be the beginning of the last 1,335 days of the Age of Grace. When this happens, be sure you start to make some Spiritual decisions and don't keep putting it off or it will be to late! The Coming of the Lord is not a complicated teaching. It's really a simple concept of putting the Scriptures together, if you guided by the Spirit of God. The vast majority of the almost 8 billion people on earth; including the virtually all the World Governmental and Religious Leaders are totally ignorant of the simplicity of this Biblical Teaching and will all be caught unaware. If you don't believe me, just wait and see!!!
Matthew 24: [22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. [29] Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: [36] But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. [37] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. [38] For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, [50] The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Matthew 25: [13] Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.
Mark 13: [19] For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. [20] And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. [24] But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, [32] But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
Luke 17: [27] They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. [28] Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; [29] But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. [30] Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. [31] In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
Acts 2: [19] And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: [20] The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: [21] And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The Final 1335 Days Of The Age Of The Gentiles
The information in the first section of this page is from: www.TribulationPeriod.com
Event 1 – Israel is attacked 1335 days before the end of the Tribulation Period.
Event 2 – Some 30 days later the two witnesses begin their testimony in Israel when Jerusalem falls.
Event 3 – Some 45 days later the IDF is driven south to Beersheba and the United Nations brokers a truce or hudna is agreed to by Islam and Israel.
Event 4 – Israel remains surrounded in the Negev Wilderness for some 1260 days after the truce agreement.
Event 5 – Some 45 days before the end of the Age of the Gentiles the two witnesses will be killed by the Antichrist after having testified for 42 months (1260 days). The Antichrist will declare himself to be God on the Temple Mount – This is the abomination "that maketh desolate."
Event 6 – Three and one half days later three events occur in rapid succession. They all three occur on the same day.
#1 – The two witnesses ascend up to heaven through the clouds.
#2 – A great earthquake occurs in the same hour the two witnesses depart.
#3 – The last trump (7th) Trump sounds and all of the saved are caught up.
Event 7 – All of the saved are judged in heaven while the seven vials of God's wrath are poured out on unbelievers.
Event 8 – Christ returns with all the saved some 1335 days after the initial attack of Islamic forces against Israel.
- Israel will be attacked to start the last 1335 days of Israel's Travail
- Jerusalem will fall 30 days after the initial attack
- The two witnesses will testify for 1260 days after the fall of Jerusalem
- A truce or hudna will be declared at Beersheba 45 days after Jerusalem falls
- Israel will remain in the Negev for 1260 days after the truce or hudna
- Antichrist will kill the two witnesses and declare himself to be God on the Temple Mount making himself the "abomination that maketh desolate."
- Three and one-half days later three events occur in rapid succession on the same day: (1) The two witnesses ascend into heaven, (2) A great earthquake occurs, and (3) The seventh trump sounds and all the saved are caught up, including the sealed 144,000.
Here are a few verses that I have made into a composite, from using 17 different English Translations and various Hebrew and Greek Lexicons, including 3 different Greek New Testament Texts.
A composite of the Hebrew words for Joel 2:30: And I will show a token, a sign and wonder in the visible arch of the sky where the clouds move and throughout all the earth, in the fields, in the country, in the wilderness and it will have the appearance of blood, along with a burning, hot flaming fire, with columns of cloudy dust, smoke and vapor.
A composite of the Hebrew words for Joel 2:31: The brilliant sun, from the rising of the sun in the east to the sun rays in the arch ways of the sky, will be changed into darkness, as if it were night and the moon will take on the appearance of blood before the great and noble, fearful and terrible day in which Jehovah, the self-Existing One, the Eternal Lord shall come.
A composite of the Greek words for Acts 2:19: And I will bring forth a rare event so extraordinary, it will inspire wonder, for it will be in the elevated area of the sky and a token of these events, will be throughout the entire regions under the surface of the soil, of all the land of the world, for it will be a visible wonder of flowing substance like blood, of flashes of lightening and fire, with a mist of smoke.
A composite of the Greek words for Acts 2:20: The rising of the sun in the east and the rays of daily light will become as an outlining shadow and the bright shining moon, will appear to be a blood red color, before that mighty and visible day in which the One in supreme authority will come.
Website Links about Earthquake, Tsunamis, and Volcanoes.
The following links will help you become aware of the impending Great Tribulation Period, the Wrath of God and the beginning of the Millennial Reign. The vast majority of humanity has no concept of these events. At least you will be able to better understand what is occurring, when you see these events begin to happen.
During the Great Tribulation and more so, during the last portion of this time period, known as the Wrath of God, there will literally be a massive number of Volcanic Eruptions surrounding the surface of the Earth.
Here are some additional links that will help you understand how GOD will use the Earth by way of Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Tsunamis, a Comet and other natural cycles to bring about the Great Tribulation Period, including the Wrath of GOD:
Type in the words, Super Volcano in an Internet Search or Image Section, and/or click on these four links:
Click on the following link, to understand how the "volcanic ash clouds" will encircle the earth and will produce a single massive dust cloud:
Click on this link to learn about the "sea and the waves being in a roaring vibration.":
Type in the word: Volcano in the image section of an Internet Search or click this link:
Type in the words: Submarine Volcano or click this link:
Check out these two links on Seafloor Spreading for Volcanic Eruptions in the Oceans of the world:
Deepest oceanic trenches
Recent measurements, where the salinity and temperature of the water was measured throughout the dive, have uncertainties of about 15 m (49 ft).[43] Older measurements may be off by hundreds of meters.
Trench | Ocean | Lowest Point | Maximum Depth | Source |
Mariana Trench | Pacific Ocean | Challenger Deep | 10,920 m (35,830 ft) | [43] |
Tonga Trench | Pacific Ocean | Horizon Deep | 10,820 m (35,500 ft) | [43] |
Philippine Trench | Pacific Ocean | Emden Deep | 10,540 m (34,580 ft) | [44] |
Kuril–Kamchatka Trench | Pacific Ocean | 10,542 m (34,587 ft) | [44] | |
Kermadec Trench | Pacific Ocean | 10,047 m (32,963 ft) | [44] | |
Izu–Bonin Trench (Izu–Ogasawara Trench) | Pacific Ocean | 9,810 m (32,190 ft) | [44] | |
New Britain Trench | Pacific Ocean (Solomon Sea) | Planet Deep | 9,140 m (29,990 ft) | [45] |
Puerto Rico Trench | Atlantic Ocean | Brownson Deep | 8,380 m (27,490 ft) | [43] |
South Sandwich Trench | Atlantic Ocean | Meteor Deep | 8,265 m (27,116 ft) | [43] |
Peru–Chile Trench or Atacama Trench | Pacific Ocean | Richards Deep | 8,055 m (26,427 ft) | [44] |
Japan Trench | Pacific Ocean | 8,412 m (27,598 ft) | [44] |
Notable oceanic trenches
Trench | Location |
Aleutian Trench | South of the Aleutian Islands, west of Alaska |
Bougainville Trench | South of New Guinea |
Cayman Trench | Western Caribbean |
Cedros Trench (inactive) | Pacific coast of Baja California |
Hikurangi Trench | East of New Zealand |
Hjort Trench | Southwest of New Zealand |
Izu–Ogasawara Trench | Near Izu and Bonin islands |
Japan Trench | East of Japan |
Kermadec Trench * | Northeast of New Zealand |
Kuril–Kamchatka Trench * | Near Kuril islands |
Manila Trench | West of Luzon, Philippines |
Mariana Trench * | Western Pacific Ocean; east of Mariana Islands |
Middle America Trench | Eastern Pacific Ocean; off coast of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica |
New Hebrides Trench | West of Vanuatu (New Hebrides Islands). |
Peru–Chile Trench | Eastern Pacific Ocean; off coast of Peru & Chile |
Philippine Trench * | East of the Philippines |
Puerto Rico Trench | Boundary of Caribbean and Atlantic ocean |
Puysegur trench | Southwest of New Zealand |
Ryukyu Trench | Eastern edge of Japan's Ryukyu Islands |
South Sandwich Trench | East of the South Sandwich Islands |
Sunda Trench | Curves from south of Java to west of Sumatra and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
Tonga Trench * | Near Tonga |
Yap Trench | Western Pacific Ocean; between Palau Islands and Mariana Trench |
(*) The five deepest trenches in the world
Ancient oceanic trenches
Trench | Location |
Intermontane Trench | Western North America; between the Intermontane Islands and North America |
Insular Trench | Western North America; between the Insular Islands and the Intermontane Islands |
Farallon Trench | Western North America |
Tethyan Trench | South of Turkey, Iran, Tibet and Southeast Asia |
List of mid-ocean ridges
- Aden Ridge – Part of an active oblique rift system in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and the Arabian Peninsula
- Cocos Ridge
- Explorer Ridge – Mid-ocean ridge west of British Columbia, Canada
- Galapagos Spreading Center – an east-west trending mid-ocean ridge east of the eponymous islands between the Nazca and Cocos plates
- Gorda Ridge – Tectonic spreading center off the northern coast of California and southern Oregon
- Juan de Fuca Ridge – Divergent plate boundary off the coast of the Pacific Northwest region of North America
- South American–Antarctic Ridge – Mid-ocean ridge in the South Atlantic between the South American Plate and the Antarctic Plate
- Chile Rise
- East Pacific Rise – A mid-oceanic ridge at a divergent tectonic plate boundary on the floor of the Pacific Ocean
- Gakkel Ridge – Mid-oceanic ridge under the Arctic Ocean between the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate(Mid-Arctic Ridge)
- Pacific-Antarctic Ridge – Tectonic plate boundary in the South Pacific Ocean
- Central Indian Ridge – A north-south-trending mid-ocean ridge in the western Indian Ocean
- Carlsberg Ridge – Tectonic plate ridge
- Southeast Indian Ridge – Mid-ocean ridge in the southern Indian Ocean
- Southwest Indian Ridge – A mid-ocean ridge on the bed of the south-west Indian Ocean and south-east Atlantic Ocean
- Mid-Atlantic Ridge – Atlantic Ocean tectonic plate boundary
- Kolbeinsey Ridge – Segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge north of Iceland in the Arctic Ocean
- Mohns Ridge
- Knipovich Ridge (between Greenland and Spitsbergen)
- Reykjanes Ridge (south of Iceland)
List of ancient oceanic ridges
- Aegir Ridge – Extinct mid-ocean ridge in the far-northern Atlantic Ocean
- Alpha Ridge – Major volcanic ridge under the Arctic Ocean
- Kula-Farallon Ridge – Ancient mid-ocean ridge
- Mid-Labrador Ridge – Ancient mid-ocean ridge that existed between the North American and Greenland plates in the Labrador Sea during the Paleogene period
- Pacific-Farallon Ridge – Spreading ridge during the Late Cretaceous
- Pacific-Kula Ridge – Mid-ocean ridge between the Pacific and Kula plates in the Pacific Ocean during the Paleogene period
- Phoenix Ridge
- Afar Triangle – Geological depression caused by the Afar Triple Junction
- Geography of Iceland – Geographical features of Iceland
- List of oceanic landforms
- Ocean chemistry
- Oceanic crust
- Petrological Database of the Ocean Floor
- Project FAMOUS – first manned submersible study of the rift valley of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
- RISE project – discovery of black smokers hydrothermal systems on the East Pacific Rise
- Slab window – Type of gap in a subducted oceanic plate
- Submarine volcano – Underwater vents or fissures in the Earth's surface from which magma can erupt
- Vine-Matthews-Morely hypothesis; explains relation of marine magnetic anomalies to seafloor spreading.
For the destruction of the ships in port. Click on this link:
Type in the word: Tsunamis in the image section of an Internet Search or click this link:
Type in the word: Comet in the image section of an Internet Search or click this link:
Check out these links for information about the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper Belt This is the location of trillions of comets. Eventually, one of them will hit the earth!!! It might be a "Super Comet." Just type the words: Super Comet in the search section on the Internet and you should find some information.
Type in the words: Ash Cloud in the image section of an Internet Search or click this link:
Type in the words: Earth's Interior in the image section of an Internet Search or click this link for information about the bottomless pit:
Type in the words: Volcano Eruption in the image section of an Internet Search or click this link:
Type in the words: Volcano Vent and/or Volcano Crater in the image section of an Internet Search or click these four links:
Type in the words: Volcano Lightning in the image section of an Internet Search or click these three links:
For a better understanding of the word "hail, as mentioned in Revelation 8:7; 11:15-19 and 16:17-21, just do some research on the words: Volcanic Bomb.
Type in the words: Volcanic Bomb in an Internet Search Section or click this link:
Type in the words: Volcanic Bomb in the image section of an Internet Search or click this link:
Type in the words: Plate Tectonics in the image section of an Internet Search or click this link:
Type in the words: Plate Boundaries in the image section of an Internet Search or click this link:
Here are two additional useful links:
Click on these links:
Type in the words: Volcano Lava in the image section of an Internet Search or click this link:
This link is for Volcanoes of the World:
This link is for Volcanoes of the United States:
This next section deals with the Destruction of Rome, Italy and the Vatican City.
You can also type the following words in an Internet Search Section and/or in the Image Section: Italy Volcanoes, Monte Albano, Colli Albani Hills, Alban Hills Volcano, Tiber River.
Please click on this link about the Alban Hills Volcano near Rome, Italy.
Please type in the following words in an Internet Search or Image Section: Italy Subduction Zone or click the following two links:
The links below, will provide information about the future destruction of the "Vatican City," in Rome, Italy. The Alban Hills volcano complex may or may not be the volcano complex which God will use to destroy the "Vatican City."
But it is certainly worth considering… There are other volcanoes in the area, as the whole country is above a Subduction Zone.
You may not want to accept this concept, but it will happen. The Bible clearly teaches this fact. It Will Happen… Again, It Will Happen… It's just a matter of time.
Just remember, when the Arab Antichrist invades Israel, then The Great Tribulation Period will begin and 3 1/2 years later, will be the Destruction of Rome, Italy and the end of the Vatican City…forever…
The "Lord Jesus Christ" will not let this religious system remain active when He begins His 1,000 year Reign on this earth, as He returns immediately after it's destruction…
Please check out these links. They will provide you with information as to the method of the destruction used against the City of Rome and primarily for the single purpose of destroying the religious system in the Vatican City.
- Subduction Zone
- Subduction Zone – Images
- Subduction Zone from Wikipedia
- Apennine Mountains
- 2009 L'Aquila Earthquake, Italy
- Alban Hills
- Volcanoes Surrounding the City of Rome, Italy
- Volcanism in Italy
- Volcanoes Near Rome, Italy
- Tiber River
- Tiber River and Volcanoes near Rome, Italy– Map
Type in the words: Red Tide or Dinoflagellates in the Web section of an Internet Search or click on the following five links:
Type in the words: Volcano Eruption Ozone Hole in the image section of an Internet Search for information about the destruction of the Ozone Layer from Volcanic Eruptions or click this link:
Destroy them which destroy the earth. (To bring to ruin) them which (morally corrupt) the earth. Revelation 11:18b.
God will use the "blood like-substance" or the "blood of the earth" to put an end to the gross immorality of humanity… When the great earthquakes really begin to happen, the surface of the earth will crack open and the "burning hot magma" from the interior of the earth will literally "burn" humanity from off the surface of the earth… God will use the earth to bring about the fulfillment of His Biblical Prophecies…
A Blood-Like Substance Arises From Under The Earth In The Jordan River Valley Outside The City Of Jerusalem
And the angel thrust with intense violence, his gathering hook and sickle for harvesting, into the earth and gathered the vine and vintage of the earth and cast and threw it into the great trough, wine-vat and winepress of the fierce indignation and wrath of Deity; the very exceeding great God. And the great trough, wine-vat and winepress was trodden without the city and a blood-like substance came out of the winepress, even up to the horse bridle-bits, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
(1,600 furlongs times, 606.75 Greek feet, divided by 5,280 English feet, equals 183.86 miles). Revelation 14:19-20.
Type in the words: Volcano Lava in the image section of an Internet Search or click this link:
What about the "the sea and the waves roaring;"? Can we find any insight as to what the Lord was talking about?
Check out these links for information about: "the sea and the waves roaring."
- Tsunami
- Historic Tsunami
- Mega Tsunami
- Tsunami Images
- Tsunami from NOAA
- The Physics of Tsunamis
- Tsunami Research from NOAA
- Tsunami Pictures
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold,he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him: and all kindred's of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1:5-8.
Check out these links for information about Volcanic Ash Clouds.
- Ash Cloud.
- Volcanic Ash Cloud.
- Volcanic Ash.
- Volcanic Ash from USGS.
- Volcanic Ash Glossary.
- Volcanic Ash Glossary – Description.
- Volcanic Ash Images.
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ;and he shall reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned. And the nations were angry and thy wrath is come and the time of the dead, that they should be judged and that thou shouldest give rewards unto thy servants the prophets and to the saints and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them, which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament; and there were lightnings and voices and thunderings and an earthquake and great hail. Revelation11:15-19.
Check out these links for information about Volcanic Lightning and Volcanic Hail.
- Volcanic Lightning from the Rinjani Volcano.
- Volcanic Lightning from the Galunggung Volcano.
- Volcanic Lightning.
- Volcanic Lightning from the Chaiten Volcano.
- Volcanic Bomb.
- Volcanic Block.
The Seventh Vial of Wrath
The seventh vial of wrath ends the Tribulation Period. When the last 45 days of the Wrath of God is completed, there would have been great worldwide earthquakes, massive volcanic eruptions, with towering ash clouds, volcanic lightning and volcanic bombs of melting rock. These submarine earthquakes and volcanoes will produce catastrophic tsunamis waves along the coastal areas, resulting in a displacement of the geographical location of all the islands and mountains on this earth. Every inch of landmass on the entire surface of the earth will have a new geographical position. God will judge the people of the world with fire from under the earth's crust.
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices and thunders and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great. And the city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. Revelation 16:17-21.
Check out these links for information on how God will use the earth to bring about the Great Tribulation Period. God will cause the tectonic plate movement to produce earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, bring an end to the present state of humanity. It will be the End of the World as we know it, in our life time.
- Ring of Fire.
- Ring of Fire Images.
- List of Volcanoes.
- Earthquake Pictures.
- World Earthquake Maps.
- United States Earthquake Maps.
- List of World Earthquakes.
Check out these two links below, to understand "Lightning Fire".
This "Lightning Fire" is from Volcanic Eruptions…
It will be occurring all along the tectonic plate boundaries of the earth…
The "plague of the hail" will be the volcanic bombs, thrown out from the erupting volcanoes…
Revelation 8: [13] And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
Check out these links for the words "Bottomless Pit.":
Check out these links for information about what these demons look like:
To better answer how to answer this question, we should learn something about the structure of the land in the area of the Euphrates River. The following links will help towards understanding how God will use earthquakes, to break up the land in the Middle East, to divert the Euphrates River.
- Plate Tectonics
- Plate Tectonics Boundaries
- Plate Tectonics Boundaries
- Plate Tectonics Motion
- List of Tectonic Plate Interactions
- Middle East Tectonic Plates
- Plate Tectonics Map
- Aseismic creep
- Fault scarp – Small step or offset on the ground surface where one side of a fault has moved vertically with respect to the other
- Fault block – Large blocks of rock created by tectonic and localized stresses in Earth's crust
- Mitigation of seismic motion
- Mountain formation – Geological processes that underlie the formation of mountains
- Orogeny – The formation of mountain ranges
- Paleostress inversion
- Seismic hazard – Probability that an earthquake will occur in a given geographic area, within a given window of time
- Striation – Groove, created by a geological process, on the surface of a rock or a mineral
- Vertical displacement – Vertical movement of Earth's crust
Check out these images for the location of the Euphrates River. Notice it's headwaters, then how it flows southeast. During the Great Tribulation Period, the earthquakes will cause it to be diverted southwest into the Jordan River.
The land of Syria has many earthquake faults and a massive earthquake will collapse the Palmyride folds, which will allow the Euphrates River to flow southwest towards Israel.
Check out these links for information about the Palmyride Folds:
These geological changes will begin, when the Antichrist or the Islamic leader of the ten Arab confederation of nations attack the nation of Israel.
When the Euphrates River, the Jordan River and Ezekiel's spring combine their water sources, in addition to hundreds, perhaps thousands of newly formed springs, along with the transformation of the southern end of the Dead Sea Fault Zone, the "New River" will be able to support an abundance of freshwater fish for the 1,000 years in which Israel will become the breadbasket of the world.
The following lists of links can be useful, in helping a person to understand the structure of the Earth and how it is possible for Earthquake and Volcanoes to be the means of fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures, the Gospels, the Epistles and the Book of Revelation towards the Great Tribulation Period.
They are from:
- The East African Rift (Great Rift Valley) in eastern Africa
- The Mid-Atlantic Ridge system separates the North American Plate and South American Plate in the west from the Eurasian Plate and African Plate in the east
- The Gakkel Ridge is a slow spreading ridge located in the Arctic Ocean
- The East Pacific Rise, extending from the South Pacific to the Gulf of California
- The Baikal Rift Zone in eastern Russia
- The Red Sea Rift
- The Aden Ridge along the southern shore of the Arabian Peninsula
- The Carlsberg Ridge in the eastern Indian Ocean
- The Gorda Ridge off the northwest coast of North America
- The Explorer Ridge off the northwest coast of North America
- The Juan de Fuca Ridge off the northwest coast of North America
- The Chile Rise off the southeast Pacific
- The oceanic Nazca Plate subducts beneath the continental South American Plate at the Peru–Chile Trench.
- Just north of the Nazca Plate, the oceanic Cocos Plate subducts under the Caribbean Plate and forms the Middle America Trench.
- The Cascadia subduction zone is where the oceanic Juan de Fuca, Gorda and Explorer Plates subduct under the continental North American plate.
- The oceanic Pacific Plate subducts under the North American Plate (composed of both continental and oceanic sections) forming the Aleutian Trench.
- The oceanic Pacific Plate subducts beneath the continental Okhotsk Plate at the Japan Trench.
- The oceanic Philippine Sea Plate subducts beneath the Eurasian Plate at the Ryukyu Trench.
- The oceanic Pacific Plate subducts under the oceanic Philippine Sea Plate forming the Mariana Trench.
- The oceanic Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt forming the Philippine Trench and the East Luzon Trench.
- The Eurasian Plate is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt at the Manila Trench.
- The Sunda Plate is subducting under the Philippine Mobile Belt at the Negros Trench and the Cotobato Trench.
- The oceanic Indo-Australian Plate is subducted beneath the continental Sunda Plate along the Sunda Trench.
- The oceanic Pacific Plate is subducting under the Indo-Australian Plate north and east of New Zealand, but the direction of subduction reverses south of the Alpine Fault where the Indo-Australian Plate starts subducting under the Pacific Plate.
- The South American Plate is subducting under the South Sandwich Plate, forming the South Sandwich Trench.
- The most dramatic orogenic belt on the planet is the one between the Indo-Australian Plate and African Plate on one side (to the South) and the Eurasian Plate on the other side (to the North). This belt runs from New Zealand in the East-SouthEast, through Indonesia, along the Himalayas, through the Middle East up to the Mediterranean in the West-Northwest. It is also called the "Tethyan" Zone, as it constitutes the zone along which the ancient Tethys Ocean was deformed and disappeared. The following mountain belts can be distinguished:
- The European Alps
- The Carpathians
- The Pyrenees
- The Apennines
- The Dinarides
- The North African mountain belts such as the Atlas Mountains
- The Karst Plateau of the Balkan Peninsula
- The Caucasus
- The Zagros
- The Himalayas
- The Indonesian Archipelago
- The Southern Alps of New Zealand
- The Andes orogenic belt is the latest of a series of orogenies along the western margin of the South American Plate.
- The San Andreas Fault in California is an active transform boundary. The Pacific Plate (carrying the city of Los Angeles) is moving northwards with respect to the North American Plate.
- The Queen Charlotte Fault on the Pacific Northwest coast of North America
- The Motagua Fault, which crosses through Guatemala, is a transform boundary between the southern edge of the North American Plate and the northern edge of the Caribbean Plate.
- New Zealand's Alpine Fault is another active transform boundary.
- The Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault which runs through the Jordan River Valley in the Middle East.
- The Owen Fracture Zone along the southeastern boundary of the Arabian Plate.
Triple junction – Meeting point of three tectonic plates.
- The junction of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the East African Rift centered in the Afar Triangle (the Afar Triple Junction) is the only Ridge-Ridge-Ridge (R-R-R) triple junction above sea level.
- The Rodrigues Triple Junction is a R-R-R triple junction in the southern Indian Ocean, where the African, the Indo-Australian and the Antarctic Plates meet.
- The Galapagos Triple Junction is an R-R-R triple junction where the Nazca, the Cocos, and the Pacific Plates meet. The East Pacific Rise extends north and south from this junction and the Galapagos Rise goes to the east. This example is made more complex by the Galapagos Microplate which is a small separate plate on the rise just to the southeast of the triple junction.
- Chiapas coast off Tapachula where Guatemala, North America and Pacific join and small earthquakes occur weekly. This is pushed eastward by the Cocos plate.
- On the west coast of North America is another unstable triple junction offshore of Cape Mendocino. To the south, the San Andreas Fault, a strike-slip fault and transform plate boundary, separates the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. To the north lies the Cascadia subduction zone, where a section of the Juan de Fuca Plate called the Gorda Plate is being subducted under the North American Plate, forming a trench (T). Another transform fault, the Mendocino Fault (F), runs along the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Gorda Plate. Where the three intersect is the seismically active, F-F-T Mendocino Triple Junction.
- The Amurian Plate, the Okhotsk Plate, and the Philippine Sea Plate meet in Japan near Mount Fuji. (see Mount Fuji's Geology)
- The Azores Triple Junction is a geologic triple junction where the boundaries of three tectonic plates intersect: the North American Plate, the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate.
- The Boso Triple Junction offshore Japan is a T-T-T triple junction between the Okhotsk Plate, Pacific Plate and Philippine Sea Plate.
- The North Sea is located at the extinct triple junction of three former continental plates of the Palaeozoic era: Avalonia, Laurentia and Baltica.
- The South Greenland Triple Junction was an R-R-R triple junction where the Eurasian, Greenland and North American plates diverged during the Paleogene.
- The Chile Triple Junction is where the South American Plate, the Nazca Plate, and the Antarctic Plate meet.
Plate tectonics (from the Late Latin: tectonicus, from the Ancient Greek: τεκτονικός, lit. 'pertaining to building') is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large tectonic plates which have been slowly moving since about 3.4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of continental drift, an idea developed during the first decades of the 20th century. Plate tectonics came to be generally accepted by geoscientists after seafloor spreading was validated in the mid to late 1960s.
Earth's lithosphere, which is the rigid outermost shell of a planet (the crust and upper mantle), is broken into seven or eight major plates (depending on how they are defined) and many minor plates. Where the plates meet, their relative motion determines the type of boundary: convergent, divergent, or transform. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along these plate boundaries (or faults). The relative movement of the plates typically ranges from zero to 10 cm annually.
- The collision between the Eurasian Plate and the Indian Plate that is forming the Himalayas.
- The collision between the Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate that formed the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana in New Zealand
- Subduction of the northern part of the Pacific Plate and the NW North American Plate that is forming the Aleutian Islands.
- Subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate to form the Andes.
- Subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Australian Plate and Tonga Plate, forming the complex New Zealand to New Guinea subduction/transform boundaries.
- Collision of the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate formed the Pontic Mountains in Turkey.
- Subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Mariana Plate formed the Mariana Trench.
- Subduction of the Juan de Fuca Plate beneath the North American Plate to form the Cascade Range.
- Seafloor spreading – Geological process at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge
- Continental drift – Movement of Earth's continents relative to each other
- Subduction zone – A geological process at convergent tectonic plate boundaries where one plate moves under the other
- Fracture zone – Linear feature on the ocean floor
- Leaky transform fault – Transform fault producing new crust
- List of tectonic plate interactions – Definitions and examples of the interactions between the relatively mobile sections of the lithosphere
- Plate tectonics – Movement of Earth's lithosphere
- Strike-slip tectonics – Structure and processes associated with zones of lateral displacement in the Earth's crust
- Structural geology – Science of the description and interpretation of deformation in the Earth's crust
Tectonic plates are composed of the oceanic lithosphere and the thicker continental lithosphere, each topped by its own kind of crust. Along convergent boundaries, the process of subduction, or one plate moving under another, carries the edge of the lower one down into the mantle; the area of material lost is roughly balanced by the formation of new (oceanic) crust along divergent margins by seafloor spreading. In this way, the total geoid surface area of the lithosphere remains constant. This prediction of plate tectonics is also referred to as the conveyor belt principle. Earlier theories, since disproven, proposed gradual shrinking (contraction) or gradual expansion of the globe.
Tectonic plates are able to move because Earth's lithosphere has greater mechanical strength than the underlying asthenosphere. Lateral density variations in the mantle result in convection; that is, the slow creeping motion of Earth's solid mantle. Plate movement is thought to be driven by a combination of the motion of the seafloor away from spreading ridges due to variations in topography (the ridge is a topographic high) and density changes in the crust (density increases as newly-formed crust cools and moves away from the ridge). At subduction zones the relatively cold, dense oceanic crust is "pulled" or sinks down into the mantle over the downward convecting limb of a mantle cell. The relative importance of each of these factors and their relationship to each other is unclear, and still the subject of much debate.
- Asthenosphere – Highly viscous, mechanically weak and ductile region of Earth's mantle
- Aulacogen – Failed arm of a triple junction, an inactive rift zone
- Back-arc basin – Submarine features associated with island arcs and subduction zones
- Bimodal volcanism – Eruption of both mafic and felsic lavas from a single volcanic centre
- Continent – Very large landmass identified by convention
- Crust – The outermost solid shell of a rocky planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite
- Epeirogenic movement – Upheavals or depressions of land exhibiting long wavelengths and little folding
- Fault (geology) – Fracture or discontinuity in rock across which there has been displacement
- Fault mechanics – Field of study that investigates the behavior of geologic faults
- Active fault – Geological fault likely to be the source of an earthquake sometime in the future
- Flux melting – The process by which the melting point is reduced by the admixture of a material known as a flux
- Geodynamics – Study of dynamics of the Earth
- Island arc – Arc-shaped archipelago formed by intense seismic activity of long chains of active volcanoes
- Mantle – Layer inside a planet between core and crust
- Mohorovičić discontinuity – Boundary between the Earth's crust and the mantle
- Mountain – Large landform that rises fairly steeply above the surrounding land over a limited area
- Mid-ocean ridge, also known as Oceanic ridge – Basaltic underwater mountain system formed by plate tectonic spreading
- Oceanic trench – Long and narrow depressions of the sea floor
- Paleoclimatology – Study of changes in ancient climate
- Paleomap – Map of continents and mountain ranges in the past based on plate reconstructions
- Seamount – Mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach to the water's surface
- Slab (geology) – The portion of a tectonic plate that is being subducted
- Slab gap hypothesis – Explanation for several instances of crustal extension that occur inland near former subduction zones
- Slab window – Type of gap in a subducted oceanic plate
- Supercontinent – Landmass comprising more than one continental core, or craton
- Terrane – Fragment of crust formed on one tectonic plate and accreted to another
- Volcano – Rupture in the crust of a planet that allows lava, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface
Tectonic plate interactions
Tectonic plate interactions – Definitions and examples of the interactions between the relatively mobile sections of the lithosphere
- Continental drift – Movement of Earth's continents relative to each other
- Convergent boundary – Region of active deformation between colliding tectonic plates
- Divergent boundary – Linear feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other
- Extensional tectonics – Study of the structures formed by, and the processes associated with, the stretching of a planetary body's crust
- Isostasy – State of gravitational equilibrium between Earth's crust and mantle
- Leaky transform fault – Transform fault producing new crust
- Mantle convection – Gradual movement of the planet's mantle
- Obduction – Overthrusting of oceanic lithosphere onto continental lithosphere at a convergent plate boundary
- Orogeny – The formation of mountain ranges
- Passive margin – Transition between oceanic and continental lithosphere that is not an active plate margin
- Plume tectonics – Geophysical theory of movement of mantle plumes under tectonic plates
- Ridge push – Proposed driving force for tectonic plate motion
- Seafloor spreading – Geological process at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge
- Strike-slip tectonics – Structure and processes associated with zones of lateral displacement in the Earth's crust
- Subduction – A geological process at convergent tectonic plate boundaries where one plate moves under the other
- Tectonic uplift – Geologic uplift of Earth's surface that is attributed to plate tectonics
- Thrust tectonics – Study of the structures formed by, and the tectonic processes associated with, the shortening and thickening of the crust
- Transform fault, also known as Transform boundary – Plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal
- Triple junction – Meeting point of three tectonic plates
Back arc basins
Back-arc basin – Submarine features associated with island arcs and subduction zones
Continent – Very large landmass identified by convention
- Africa – Continent
- Antarctica – Continent
- Asia – Continent
- Australia (continent) – One of Earth's seven main divisions of land
- Europe – Continent
- North America – Continent in the Northern Hemisphere
- South America – Continent
Supercontinent – Landmass comprising more than one continental core, or craton
- Eurasia – Combined landmasses of Europe and Asia
Paleocontinent – A distinct area of continental crust that existed as a major landmass in the geological past
- Asiamerica – Large island that existed in the Late Cretaceous to Eocene epochs
- Amazonian Craton – Geologic province in South America
- Appalachia (Mesozoic)
- Arctica – Ancient continent in the Neoarchean era
- Armorican terrane – Microcontinent or group of continental fragments rifted away from Gondwana
- Asiamerica – Large island that existed in the Late Cretaceous to Eocene epochs
- Atlantica – Ancient continent formed during the Proterozoic about 2 billion years ago
- Australia (continent) – One of Earth's seven main divisions of land (Also known as Sahul)
- Avalonia – Microcontinent in the Paleozoic era named for the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland
- Baltica – Late-Proterozoic to early-Palaeozoic continent
- Cathaysia – A microcontinent or group of terranes that rifted off Gondwana during the Late Paleozoic
- Chilenia – Ancient microcontinent, containing central Chile and western Argentina
- Chiloé Block – Ancient microcontinent or terrane that collided with the South American Plate during the Proterozoic
- Cimmeria (continent) – Ancient string of microcontinents that rifted from Gondwana
- Congo Craton – Precambrian craton that with four others makes up the modern continent of Africa
- Chilenia – Ancient microcontinent, containing central Chile and western Argentina
- Cuyania – Ancient microcontinent now part of Argentina
- Laramidia – Island continent that existed until the Late Cretaceous period
- Iberian Plate – Small tectonic plate now part of the Eurasian plate
- Insular India – Isolated land mass which became the Indian subcontinent
- Kalahari Craton – Old and stable part of the continental lithosphere, that occupies large portions of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe
- Kazakhstania – Geological region in Central Asia
- Kerguelen Plateau – Oceanic plateau in the southern Indian Ocean
- Laramidia – Island continent that existed until the Late Cretaceous period
- Laurentia – A large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of the North American continent
- Mauritia (microcontinent) – A Precambrian microcontinent that broke away as India and Madagascar separated
- North China Craton – Continental crustal block in northeast China, Inner Mongolia, the Yellow Sea, and North Korea
- Pampia – Ancient microcontinent or terrane
- Río de la Plata Craton – Medium-sized continental block in Uruguay, eastern Argentina and southern Brazil
- São Francisco Craton – An ancient craton in the eastern part of South America with outcrops in Minas Gerais and Bahia, Brazil
- Siberia (continent) – Ancient craton forming the Central Siberian Plateau
- South China (continent)
- Sunda (continent)
- Supercontinent – Landmass comprising more than one continental core, or craton
- Columbia (supercontinent) – Ancient supercontinent of approximately 2,500 to 1,500 million years ago
- Euramerica
- Gondwana – Neoproterozoic to Cretaceous landmass
- Kenorland – Hypothetical Neoarchaean supercontinent from about 2.8 billion years ago
- Laurasia – Northern landmass that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent
- Nena (supercontinent) – Early Proterozoic supercontinent
- Pangaea – Supercontinent from the late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic eras
- Pannotia – Hypothesized Neoproterozoic supercontinent from the end of the Precambrian
- Rodinia – Hypothetical Neoproterozoic supercontinent
- Ur (continent) – Proposed archaean supercontinent from about 3.1 billion years ago
- Vaalbara – Archaean supercontinent from about 3.6 to 2.7 billion years ago
Earthquake – Shaking of the surface of the earth caused by a sudden release of energy in the crust
- Blind thrust earthquake – Movement along a thrust fault that is not visible at the surface
- Intraplate earthquake – Earthquake that occurs within the interior of a tectonic plate
- Interplate earthquake – Earthquake that occurs at the boundary between two tectonic plates
- Megathrust earthquake – Type of earthquake that occurs at subduction zones at destructive convergent plate boundaries
Ocean – Body of salt water covering the majority of Earth
Ancient oceans
List of ancient oceans – List of planet Earth's former oceans
- Adamastor Ocean – Precambrian "proto-Atlantic" ocean in the Southern Hemisphere
- Boreal Sea – Mesozoic-era seaway that lay along the northern border of Laurasia
- Bridge River Ocean – Ancient ocean between North America and the Insular Islands during the Mesozoic
- Iapetus Ocean – Ocean that existed in the late Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic eras
- Central American Seaway – Body of water that once separated North America from South America
- Goianides Ocean – Ocean in South America in Neoproterozoic
- Goiás Ocean
- Hudson Seaway – Major seaway of North America during the Cretaceous Period
- Iapetus Ocean – Ocean that existed in the late Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic eras
- Khanty Ocean – Small Precambrian ocean between Baltica and the Siberian continent
- Lapland-Kola Ocean
- Mirovia – Hypothesized superocean surrounding the supercontinent Rodinia in the Neoproterozoic Era
- Paleo-Tethys Ocean – Ocean on the margin of Gondwana between the Middle Cambrian and Late Triassic
- Pan-African Ocean – Hypothesized paleo-ocean whose closure created the supercontinent of Pannotia
- Pannonian Sea – Shallow ancient sea where the Pannonian Basin in Central Europe is today
- Panthalassa – Prehistoric superocean that surrounded Pangaea
- Paratethys – Large shallow sea that stretched from the region north of the Alps over Central Europe to the Aral Sea in Central Asia
- Pharusian Ocean – Ancient ocean that existed from 800 to 635 million years ago
- Piemont-Liguria Ocean – Former piece of oceanic crust that is seen as part of the Tethys Ocean
- Poseidon Ocean – Supposed ocean that existed in the Mesoproterozoic period
- Pre-Svecofennian Ocean
- Proto-Tethys Ocean – Ancient ocean that existed from the latest Ediacaran to the Carboniferous
- Rheic Ocean – Ancient ocean which separated two major palaeocontinents, Gondwana and Laurussia
- Slide Mountain Ocean – An ancient ocean that existed between the Intermontane Islands and North America
- Sundance Sea – Inland sea that existed in North America during the mid-to-late Jurassic Period of the Mesozoic Era
- Tethys Ocean – Mesozoic ocean between Gondwana and Laurasia
- Tornquist Sea – Sea between the palaeocontinents Avalonia and Baltica about 600 to 450 million years ago
- Turgai Sea – Large shallow body of salt water of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras
- Ural Ocean – Small, ancient ocean between Siberia and Baltica
- Valais Ocean – Subducted ocean basin. Remnants found in the Alps in the North Penninic nappes.
- Western Interior Seaway – Large prehistoric inland sea that split the continent of North America
Superocean – Ocean that surrounds a supercontinent
- Mirovia – Hypothesized superocean surrounding the supercontinent Rodinia in the Neoproterozoic Era
- Pan-African Ocean – Hypothesized paleo-ocean whose closure created the supercontinent of Pannotia
- Panthalassa – Prehistoric superocean that surrounded Pangaea
Orogeny – The formation of mountain ranges
- List of orogenies – Known mountain building events of the Earth's history
- Mountain formation – Geological processes that underlie the formation of mountains
- Fold mountains – Mountains formed by compressive crumpling of the layers of rock
- Algoman orogeny – Late Archaean episode of mountain building in what is now North America
Rift – Geological linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart
- Mid-ocean ridge – Basaltic underwater mountain system formed by plate tectonic spreading
- Saint Lawrence rift system – Seismically active zone paralleling the Saint Lawrence River
Active rifts
- Propagating rift – Seafloor feature associated with spreading centers at mid-ocean ridges and back-arc basins
Continental rifts
- East African Rift – Active continental rift zone in East Africa
- Laptev Sea Rift – Divergent tectonic plate boundary between the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate
- Afar Triangle – Geological depression caused by the Afar Triple Junction
Oceanic ridges
- Aden Ridge – Part of an active oblique rift system in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and the Arabian Peninsula
- Cocos Ridge
- Explorer Ridge – Mid-ocean ridge west of British Columbia, Canada
- Gorda Ridge – Tectonic spreading center off the northern coast of California and southern Oregon
- Juan de Fuca Ridge – Divergent plate boundary off the coast of the Pacific Northwest region of North America
- South American–Antarctic Ridge – Mid-ocean ridge in the South Atlantic between the South American Plate and the Antarctic Plate
- Chile Rise
- East Pacific Rise – A mid-oceanic ridge at a divergent tectonic plate boundary on the floor of the Pacific Ocean
- East Scotia Ridge
- Gakkel Ridge – Mid-oceanic ridge under the Arctic Ocean between the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate(Mid-Arctic Ridge)
- Nazca Ridge – Submarine ridge off the coast of Peru
- Pacific-Antarctic Ridge – Tectonic plate boundary in the South Pacific Ocean
- Central Indian Ridge – A north-south-trending mid-ocean ridge in the western Indian Ocean
- Carlsberg Ridge – Tectonic plate ridge
- Southeast Indian Ridge – Mid-ocean ridge in the southern Indian Ocean
- Southwest Indian Ridge – A mid-ocean ridge on the bed of the south-west Indian Ocean and south-east Atlantic Ocean
- Mid-Atlantic Ridge – Atlantic Ocean tectonic plate boundary
- Kolbeinsey Ridge (North of Iceland)
- Mohns Ridge
- Knipovich Ridge (between Greenland and Spitsbergen)
- Reykjanes Ridge (South of Iceland)
Aulacogen – Failed arm of a triple junction, an inactive rift zone
- Adelaide Rift Complex
- Alpha Ridge – Major volcanic ridge under the Arctic Ocean
- Aegir Ridge – Extinct mid-ocean ridge in the far-northern Atlantic Ocean
- Anza trough – Rift in Kenya that was formed in the Jurassic Period
- Bahr el Arab rift – Major geological feature in the southwest Sudan
- Benue Trough – Major geological structure underlying a large part of Nigeria
- Central Lowlands – Geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland
- Eastern North America Rift Basins – Series of sediment-filled aborted rifts created by large-scale continental extension
- Fundy Basin – Sediment-filled rift basin on the Atlantic coast of southeastern Canada
- Gulf of Suez Rift – Continental rift zone that was active between the Late Oligocene and the end of the Miocene
- Gulf St Vincent – A large inlet of water on the southern coast of South Australia between the Yorke Peninsula and the Fleurieu Peninsula
- Kula-Farallon Ridge – Ancient mid-ocean ridge
- Melut Basin – Rift basin in South Sudan
- Midcontinent Rift System – Geological rift in the center of the North American continent
- Mississippi embayment – Low-lying basin filled with Cretaceous to recent sediments
- Muglad Basin – Large rift basin in southern Sudan and South Sudan
- Narmada River – River of central India in a rift valley
- New Madrid Seismic Zone – Major seismic zone in the southern and midwestern United States
- Newark Basin – Sediment-filled rift basin in northern New Jersey, south-eastern Pennsylvania and southern New York
- Nipigon Embayment – Inactive continental rift zone in Northwestern Ontario, Canada
- Oslo Graben – Inactive Permian geological rift in Norway
- Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben – Rift valley extending from near Montréal through Ottawa in Canada
- Pacific-Farallon Ridge – Spreading ridge during the Late Cretaceous
- Pacific-Kula Ridge – Mid-ocean ridge between the Pacific and Kula plates in the Pacific Ocean during the Paleogene period
- Phoenix Ridge
- Saguenay Graben – Rift valley in the geological Grenville Province of southern Quebec, Canada
- Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen – Failed rift in the western and southern US of the triple junction that became the Iapetus Ocean
- Spencer Gulf – Large inlet in South Australia between the Eyre Peninsula and the Yorke Peninsula
- Timiskaming Graben – Northwesterly extension of the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben
- Wichita Mountains – Mountains in the US state Oklahoma
Subduction zones
Subduction zone – A geological process at convergent tectonic plate boundaries where one plate moves under the other
- Middle America Trench – Subduction zone in the eastern Pacific off the southwestern coast of Middle America
Suture zones
Suture (geology) – Joining together of separate terranes along a major fault zone
- Great Falls Tectonic Zone – Major intracontinental shear zone between the Hearne craton and Wyoming craton
- Huincul Fault – East-west oriented continental-scale fault that extends from the Neuquén Basin eastwards into the Argentine Shelf
- Iapetus Suture – One of several major geological faults caused by the collision of several ancient land masses forming a suture
- Indus-Yarlung suture zone – Tectonic suture in southern Tibet and across the north margin of the Himalayas where the Indian and Eurasian plates meet
- Jormua Ophiolite – Remnant of ancient oceanic lithosphere near Jormua, Finland
- Magallanes-Fagnano Fault – Continental transform fault between the Scotia Plate and the South American Plate
- Morais ophiolite complex – Metamorphic complex of oceanic and continental crust terranes in Portugal
- Periadriatic Seam – The border between the Adriatic and European plates
- Pieniny Klippen Belt – Zone in the Western Carpathians, with a very complex geological structure
- Trans-European Suture Zone – Boundary between the East European Craton and the orogens of South-Western Europe
- Vulcan structure – Convergent tectonic boundary between the Medicine Hat and Loverna Blocks in North America
Tectonic plates
Tectonic plate – Continuous section of the lithosphere of the Earth which is moving relative to adjacent plates
- List of tectonic plates – List of the relatively moving sections of the lithosphere of Earth
- African Plate – A major tectonic plate underlying Africa west of the East African Rift
- Anatolian Plate – Continental tectonic plate comprising most of the Anatolia (Asia Minor) peninsula
- Antarctic Plate – Tectonic plate containing Antarctica and the surrounding ocean floor
- Arabian Plate – Minor tectonic plate
- Burma Plate – Minor tectonic plate in Southeast Asia
- Cocos Plate – Young oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Central America
- Eurasian Plate – Tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia
- Explorer Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada
- Farallon Plate – Ancient oceanic plate that has mostly subducted under the North American Plate
- Gorda Plate – One of the northern remnants of the Farallon Plate
- Indian Plate – A minor tectonic plate that got separated from Gondwana
- Juan de Fuca Plate – Tectonic plate in the eastern North Pacific
- Halmahera Plate – Small tectonic plate in the Molucca Sea
- Indo-Australian Plate – A major tectonic plate formed by the fusion of the Indian and Australian plates
- Pacific Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate under the Pacific Ocean
- Molucca Sea Plate – Small fully subducted tectonic plate near Indonesia
- Nazca Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin
- North American Plate – Large tectonic plate including most of North America, Greenland and part of Siberia
- Philippine Sea Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate to the east of the Philippines
- South American Plate – Major tectonic plate which includes most of South America and a large part of the south Atlantic
- Sunda Plate – A minor tectonic plate including most of Southeast Asia
Terrane – Fragment of crust formed on one tectonic plate and accreted to another
- Arctic Alaska-Chukotka terrane – Terrane that includes parts of Alaska, Siberia and the continental shelf between them
- Arequipa-Antofalla – South American geology
- Armorican Massif – Geologic massif that covers a large area in the northwest of France
- Armorican terrane – Microcontinent or group of continental fragments rifted away from Gondwana
- Avalonia – Microcontinent in the Paleozoic era named for the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland
- Briançonnais zone – Piece of continental crust in the Penninic nappes of the Alps
- Bronson Hill Arc – Bimodal volcanic arc and associated Ordovician sediments
- Buffalo Head Terrane – Terrane in the western Canadian Shield in northern Alberta
- Cache Creek Terrane – Geologic terrane in British Columbia and southern Yukon, Canada
- Carolina terrane – Exotic terrane from central Georgia to central Virginia in the United States
- Cassiar Terrane – Cretaceous terrane located in the Northern Interior of British Columbia and southern Yukon
- Chilenia – Ancient microcontinent, containing central Chile and western Argentina
- Chiloé Block – Ancient microcontinent or terrane that collided with the South American Plate during the Proterozoic
- Cuyania – Ancient microcontinent now part of Argentina
- Cymru Terrane – Inferred fault bounded terrane of the basement rocks of the southern United Kingdom
- Florida Platform – Flat geological feature with the emergent portion forming the Florida peninsula
- Franciscan Assemblage
- Ganderia – Terrane in the northern Appalachians which broke off the supercontinent Gondwana
- Gascoyne Complex – Terrane of Proterozoic granite and metamorphic rock in Western Australia
- Great Lakes tectonic zone
- Great Valley Sequence – Group of late Mesozoic formations in the Cental Valley of California
- Hebridean Terrane – Part of the Caledonian orogenic belt in northwest Scotland
- Hottah terrane – Paleoproterozoic terrane in the northwestern end of the Canadian Shield
- Irumide Belt – Mesoproterozoic terrane on the southern margin of the Bangweulu Block in Zambia
- Ivrea zone – Tectonic terrane in the Italian Alps
- Lhasa terrane – Fragment of crustal material, sutured to the Eurasian Plate during the Cretaceous that forms present-day southern Tibet
- Madre de Dios Terrane – Distinct fragment of Earth's crust in southwestern Patagonia
- Meguma terrane – Terrane exposed in southern Nova Scotia
- Narooma Terrane – Geological structural region on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia
- Narryer Gneiss Terrane – Geological complex of ancient rocks in Western Australia
- Omineca Arc – Volcanic arc terrane in western North America
- Pampia – Ancient microcontinent or terrane
- Pelso Plate – Small tectonic unit in the Pannonian Basin in Europe
- Salinian Block – Terrane west of the main trace of the San Andreas Fault system in California
- Shan–Thai Terrane – Mass of continental crust extending from Tibet into Southeast Asia
- Slide Mountain Terrane – Late Paleozoic terrane in British Columbia, Canada
- Smartville Block – Volcanic arc accreted onto the North American Plate
- Sonoma Volcanics – Geologic formation of volcanic origin in California
- Sonomia Terrane – Crustal block accreted onto the North American Plate in Northwest Nevada
- Spavinaw terrane – Intrusive and volcanic rocks in the mid-continent region of the United States
- Stikinia – Terrane in British Columbia, Canada
- Tuareg Shield – Geological formation between the West African craton and the Saharan Metacraton in West Africa
- Western Gneiss Region – Large geological unit in Norway, part of the Baltic shield
- Wrangellia Terrane – Geological area in northwestern North America
- Wrekin Terrane – Inferred basement rock terrane of the southern United Kingdom
- Yakutat Block – Terrane in the process of accreting to the North American continent along the south central coast of Alaska
- Yukon–Tanana Terrane – Largest tectonostratigraphic terrane in the northern North American Cordillera
Triple junctions
Triple junction – Meeting point of three tectonic plates
- Aden-Owen-Carlsberg Triple Junction – The junction of three tectonic plate boundaries in the northwest Indian Ocean
- Afar Triple Junction – Place where three tectonic rifts meet in East Africa
- Azores Triple Junction – Tectonic plates intersection
- Banda Sea Triple Junction – Point where three tectonic plates meet
- Boso Triple Junction – The meeting point of the Okhotsk Plate, the Pacific Plate, and the Philippine Sea Plate
- Bouvet Triple Junction – Meeting point of three tectonic plates
- Chile Triple Junction – Place where the South American, Nazca and Antarctic tectonic plates meet
- Fifteen-Twenty Fracture Zone – Fracture zone on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
- Mount Fuji – Volcano in Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures, Japan
- Galapagos Triple Junction – Place where the boundaries of the Cocos Plate, the Nazca Plate, and the Pacific Plate meet
- Iapetus Suture – One of several major geological faults caused by the collision of several ancient land masses forming a suture
- Kamchatka-Aleutian Triple Junction – Place where the Pacific Plate, the Okhotsk Plate, and the North American Plate meet
- Karlıova Triple Junction – Place where the Anatolian Plate, the Eurasian Plate and the Arabian Plate meet
- Macquarie Triple Junction – Place where the Indo-Australian Plate, Pacific Plate, and Antarctic Plate meet
- Mendocino Triple Junction – Point where the Gorda plate, the North American plate, and the Pacific plate meet
- Queen Charlotte Triple Junction – Point where the Pacific Plate, the North American Plate, and the Explorer Plate meet
- Rivera Triple Junction – Place where the North American Plate, the Rivera Plate, and the Pacific Plate meet
- Rodrigues Triple Junction – Place where the African Plate, the Indo-Australian Plate, and the Antarctic Plate meet
- Tongareva triple junction – Defunct triple junction of the Pacific Plate, the Farallon Plate, and the Phoenix Plate
Other plate tectonics topics
- Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics – Organization that advances Earth science
- Paleoclimatology – Study of changes in ancient climate
- Paleomap – Map of continents and mountain ranges in the past based on plate reconstructions
- Plate reconstruction – Process of reconstructing the positions of tectonic plates in the geological past
- Timeline of the development of tectonophysics (after 1952) – Chronological listing of significant events in the history of tectonophysics
- Timeline of the development of tectonophysics (before 1954) – Chronological listing of significant events in the history of tectonophysics
- Vine–Matthews–Morley hypothesis – First key scientific test of the seafloor spreading theory of continental drift and plate tectonics
- Eclogitization – The tectonic process in which the dense, high-pressure, metamorphic rock, eclogite, is formed
Specific areas
- Alpine Fault – Right-lateral strike-slip fault, that runs almost the entire length of New Zealand's South Island.
- Benham Rise, also known as Benham Plateau – Extinct volcanic ridge in the Philippine Sea
- Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain – Mostly-undersea mountain range in the Pacific Ocean that reaches above sea level in Hawaii.
- Geology of the Alps – The formation and structure of the European Alps
- Indian subcontinent – Physiographical region in South Asia
- Mariana Trench – Deepest oceanic trench on Earth
- Mid-Atlantic Ridge – Atlantic Ocean tectonic plate boundary
- Mohorovičić discontinuity – Boundary between the Earth's crust and the mantle
- Molucca Sea Collision Zone – Region of complex tectonic activity in Indonesia
- Pacific-Antarctic Ridge – Tectonic plate boundary in the South Pacific Ocean
- Philippine Mobile Belt – Tectonic boundary
- Ring of Fire – Region around the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur
- San Andreas Fault – Geologic fault in California and Mexico
- Tethys Ocean, also known as Tethys Sea – Mesozoic ocean between Gondwana and Laurasia
Eon | Time (mya) | Description |
Hadean | 4,540–4,000 | The Earth is formed out of debris around the solar protoplanetary disk. There is no life. Temperatures are extremely hot, with frequent volcanic activity and hellish-looking environments (hence the eon's name, which comes from Hades). The atmosphere is nebular. Possible early oceans or bodies of liquid water. The Moon is formed around this time probably due to a protoplanet's collision into Earth. |
Archean | 4,000–2,500 | Prokaryote life, the first form of life, emerges at the very beginning of this eon, in a process known as abiogenesis. The continents of Ur, Vaalbara and Kenorland may have existed around this time. The atmosphere is composed of volcanic and greenhouse gases. |
Proterozoic | 2,500–538.8 | The name of this eon means "early life". Eukaryotes, a more complex form of life, emerge, including some forms of multicellular organisms. Bacteria begin producing oxygen, shaping the third and current of Earth's atmospheres. Plants, later animals and possibly earlier forms of fungi form around this time. The early and late phases of this eon may have undergone "Snowball Earth" periods, in which all of the planet suffered below-zero temperatures. The early continents of Columbia, Rodinia and Pannotia, in that order, may have existed in this eon. |
Phanerozoic | 538.8–present | Complex life, including vertebrates, begin to dominate the Earth's ocean in a process known as the Cambrian explosion. Pangaea forms and later dissolves into Laurasia and Gondwana, which in turn dissolve into the current continents. Gradually, life expands to land and familiar forms of plants, animals and fungi begin appearing, including annelids, insects and reptiles, hence the eon's name, which means "visible life". Several mass extinctions occur, among which birds, the descendants of non-avian dinosaurs, and more recently mammals emerge. Modern animals—including humans—evolve at the most recent phases of this eon. |
Supercontinents throughout geologic history
The following table names reconstructed ancient supercontinents, using Bradley's 2011 looser definition,[7] with an approximate timescale of millions of years ago (Ma).
Supercontinent name | Age (Ma) | Period/Era Range | Comment |
Vaalbara | 3,636–2,803 | Eoarchean-Mesoarchean | Also described as a supercraton or just a continent[8] |
Ur | 2,803–2,408 | Mesoarchean-Siderian | Described as both a continent[2] and a supercontinent[9] |
Kenorland | 2,720–2,114 | Neoarchean-Rhyacian | Alternatively the continents may have formed into two groupings Superia and Sclavia[10][4] |
Arctica | 2,114–1,995 | Rhyacian-Orosirian | Not generally regarded as a supercontinent, depending on definition[2] |
Atlantica | 1,991–1,124 | Orosirian-Stenian | Not generally regarded as a supercontinent, depending on definition[2] |
Columbia (Nuna) | 1,820–1,350 | Orosirian-Ectasian | [10] |
Rodinia | 1,130–750 | Stenian-Tonian | [10] |
Pannotia | 633–573 | Ediacaran | [10] |
Gondwana | 550–175 | Ediacaran-Jurassic | From the Carboniferous, formed part of Pangaea,[4] not always regarded as a supercontinent[11] |
Pangaea | 336–175 | Carboniferous-Jurassic |
List of modern island arcs
Kind Regards to all the Viewers of this website and Take Care Everyone.
I realize some of the information on this following section is redundant; but some of it is so important, that I want to share it with every viewer possible that someone might visit. We do not have a lot of time in our lives to waste on the nonsense things. If you are not careful, you will get so caught up in the things surrounding your life; you will miss out on the things that have the greatest of value and that is what happens to your soul after the departure from this Earth Life.
It is my sincerest hope, the Leaders of our Nation; the USA, including the World Leaders; become aware of the Great Tribulation Period teaching.
(Although, I honestly doubt they will ever understand and will remain in ignorance, throughout all of these events).
Such knowledge would be helpful, as to Guide the masses of People through this time period in the near future. It is going to be so very sad, when all of these events of Cosmic Lightning, Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tsunamis begin to occur; including a Comet that will hit the Earth, probably in the Old World area and cause Catastrophic Destruction on a global scale and very few Governmental and mainstream Religious Leaders; along with the masses of people will NOT realize why all of these events will be taking place and what is the final results which will be the Wrath of God from the Seven Vials of the Book of Revelation and finally the Parousia event; with the Ending of the 2,000 years of the Age of Grace and the Beginning of the Millennial Reign.
Isaiah 65:17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
Even though there are many events occurring in our world today; with much corruption and evil throughout the course of humanity; sometime in the future, the Great Tribulation Period, including the Wrath of God will begin; then end and the Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tsunamis will restructure and resurface the landmass and oceans of the earth; including some atmospheric changes with a pole shift/magnetic reversal. Most of humanity will die during these events. With the vast majority of humanity having been killed during this time period and transported into the unseen spiritual existence. Afterwards, the Millennial Reign will last for a thousand years, then the Eternal Existence will take place and all the people through earth history/time will be in that infinite place. We all will not even remember or think about the events of our earth life. It will be gone, finished forever. We will be surrounded by a new state of being that we presently cannot comprehend. In other-words, try to make an effort to start focusing on that Eternal Journey and stop spending so much time consuming and overwhelming your life with things that will very soon pass away. At least give it a try; just a little everyday.
OK folks, it is getting time to consider seriously as to how the multitudes of Pastors, Preachers and Religious Leaders throughout this world; across all states of denominations and faiths; are going to feel when these End Times events of Cosmic Lightning, Great Earthquakes, Massive Volcanic Eruptions and Tsunamis finally occur and these individuals have misled their followers; either for their own gain or out of ignorance.
Here is a most interesting question: How are the billions of people on the earth who have been kept in ignorance about the events of the Great Tribulation Period and all of a sudden, they begin to unfold, going to feel?
Let us go forward in time: How are the masses of people going to think about their Religious Leader, when they learn, they have been deceived by use of human trickery?
Likewise, consider into Eternity: What state of mind are the billions of people are going to be in, when they are awakened and transported into the Eternal, Infinite Universe beyond the elements of this Earth Life and they have been guided by religious falsehood.
The following comments are by Pastor Tom McElmurry:
Establishment Of Mahdi Antichrist's Great Caliphate
After the Antichrist conquers Egypt the initial ten Islamic countries that supported him will be quickly joined by a multiplicity of Islamic nations. His great Caliphate will include Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, all the countries that make up the Saudi Arabian Peninsula, Israel north of Beersheba, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, many of the southern states of the former Soviet Union with large Arab populations, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Having gone to military schools, lived among, worked with, and trained those of the Islamic faith as a much younger man, plus being familiar with prophecy since my youth, I have not only been waiting for many years for the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, but I have also been waiting for the arrival of the 12th Imam on the scene prior to the arrival of Jesus. I have long believed the 12th Imam Mahdi will be the 11th horn of Daniel 7, and the first beast of John's Revelation 13. His coming is the great hope of all Islam.
The Iranian President is a fanatical believer of his coming, and believes Mahdi will cause universal acceptance of Allah. For more than three years, with the Suez Canal under his control, he will gain worldwide recognition and acclaim in his capital city of Cairo. Israel will be trapped in the Negev for more than three years and stability will have come to the troubled Middle East. He will supposedly have done what all nations say they are seeking, that is, brought stability to the Middle East. But, during last year of his rule as Caliph, something will cause him to quickly head for Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 38:13 – Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
Verse 13 mentions three other descendants which were not mentioned previously as being among the horde that attacked Israel, namely, Sheba, Dedan, and Tarshish. Sheba and Dedan settled in the land we know as Saudi Arabia, later colonizing across the Red Sea in the horn we know today as Ethiopia. Tarshish is much harder to nail down to a specific location. The descendants of Tarshish were sea merchants who became the peoples of the Mediterranean Sea coast. The headquarters of the descendants of Tarshish is now generally accepted by most biblical authorities as a district in the south of Spain where the city of Tartessus once existed. The merchants of Tarshish scattered their descendants in village settlements along most of Europe's coastal sections.
I am persuaded that Europe represents the descendant offspring of Tarshish. It is quite possible that God may look upon the rest of Western Civilization as being the offspring (descendants) of Europe ("the young lions thereof"). The countries of the New World became the "melting pot" of Europe. It is very interesting what Saudi Arabia, Europe, and the rest of Western Civilization have to say to Gog about his attack on Israel: "Art thou come to take a spoil? Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? To carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?" This is no more or less than the perfect description of a diplomatic protest to Gog's actions. When the anti-Christ and his armies roar south into Israel in a blitzkrieg lightning strike, the rest of the free world will protest, protest, protest – and do nothing about it. The antichrist will take Jerusalem within five days of his initial strike in the north, and within three weeks most of Israel will have fled into the Negev south of Beersheba, where she will remain for some three and one-half years. Jerusalem will fall and only one-third of Israel's population will make it safely into the Negev.
Zechariah 13:8 to 14:2 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. [9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. [2] For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Ezekiel 38:14 – Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
The question of verse 14 is directed personally by God to Gog . It is a question to which both know the answer, as attested by "shalt thou not know it?" Gog will be well aware of it, because he will have made the agreement allowing Israel to dwell in safety. And this will be one of the reasons the anti-Christ's blitzkrieg attack will be so successful. It will catch them by surprise.
Ezekiel 38:15 – And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army.
TWO REVELATION BEASTS ARE ISLAMIC: The date of John's writing of Revelation has been placed by most at some point in time between 79 and 100 A.D., so it would be safe to say the Islamic Prophet Muhammad wrote the Koran more than 500 years after Revelation was completed. By 750 A.D. the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate or Empire had expanded out of Mecca and Medina to extend into, or to engulf, the territories now occupied by France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and India. Eventually the last Caliphate, the old Ottoman Empire, engulfed most of southeastern Europe, but then died as "the old sick man of Europe." I believe we are watching the revival of Islam in the Jihad movement. I believe the seventh and eighth empires of the Antichrist are the same in that both are Islamic. I believe the seventh is now reviving from the grave of an old Islamic Caliphate, which will become the eighth when its ruler is directly empowered by the Devil himself. The Antichrist's Caliphate will cover more area than did each individual Empire of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Grecians, and Romans. It's now arising as the seventh empire, and will reach its maximum size as the eighth, and last, empire before the Second Advent.
The above information is from Pastor Tom McElmurry. His website: www.TribulationPeriod.com
The following are my studies, with some science information from Pastor Tom McElmurry website and books:
The Sounding of the Trumpets – Are You Ready?
In I Corinthians 15:51-52, the Apostle Paul speaks a mystery: "at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed." For speculation, are there trumpets, which have already sounded before the last trump?
In I Thessalonians 4:16-18, the Apostle Paul writes, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
In Revelation 8:1, seven Angels are given seven trumpets. Each trumpet announces the beginning of certain events which can be for a "worldwide" or "local" area. They can be for events on the surface of the earth, in the oceans, in the atmosphere or in the spiritual world.
Revelation 8:7 – 1st trumpet – volcanic activity begins on the earth destroying one third of the trees and all the green grass surrounding the volcano.
Revelation 8:8-9 – 2nd trumpet – volcanic activity begins in the oceans killing one third of sea life and producing worldwide tsunami waves, which destroy a third of the ships in port.
Revelation 8:10 -11- 3rd trumpet – a great comet strikes the earth, melts and is absorbed into the hydrological cycle, producing hydrocyanic acid, poisoning one third of the earth's water supply, proceeded by a meteor storm as the comet begins its atmospheric entrance.
Revelation 8:12 – 4th trumpet – a dramatic increase in worldwide volcanic activity, creates a dust haze over a third of the earth.
Revelation 9:1-12 – 5th trumpet – a massive chain of worldwide volcanic eruptions and releasing of demonic beings from the earth's interior, which torment lost humanity for five months.
Revelation 9:13-21 – 6th trumpet – release of four demonic kings, which lead approximately 200 million demons to kill a third of the human population with fire, smoke and an intense sulfurous suffocating odor.
Revelation 11:15-19 – 7th trumpet – announces the time of the judging of the dead and to give rewards to saved souls in the presence of Jesus Christ in the spiritual kingdom, understood as the Rapture and the occurrence of an earthquake and great volcanic hail upon the earth.
The Seven Trumpets of the Great Tribulation Period
After the first "great earthquake" occurs, there follows "seven trumpets" which are:
1. Volcanic eruptions on the land surface, which destroy the trees and grass from the heat blast, lava flow and ash fall. The Saved, that is, the True Christian Believers are still on the earth during this event.
2. Volcanic eruptions on the ocean floor, which poisons the water and produces tsunamis. The Saved, that is, the True Christian Believers are still on the earth during this event.
3. A comet strikes the earth, melts and releases its' poisonous gases into the hydrological cycle. It probably falls directly over Eurasia, which is 1/3 of the earth and where the most wicked population of the world exists. The Saved, that is, the True Christian Believers are still on the earth during this event.
4. This is a dramatic increase of volcanic eruptions, producing towering ash clouds, surrounding one third of the earths' surface. The Saved, that is, the True Christian Believers are still on the earth during this event.
5. This is the release of demonic beings from the interior of the earth. They will torment lost humanity for the remaining five months or 150 days, to the very end of the Great Tribulation Period. This is the first "Woe" upon the earth. The Saved, that is, the True Christian Believers are still on the earth during this event.
6. This is the release of four chief demonic beings which command 200 million demons to kill 1/3 of humanity with fire, smoke and brimstone, which are from volcanic eruptions and volcanic lava flows. This is the second "Woe" upon the earth. The Saved, that is, the True Christian Believers are still on the earth during this event.
7. This is a massive increase of volcanic eruptions resulting in volcanic bombs being cast out upon the earth. The "great hail" is not hail stones from thunderstorms, but molten rock flying through the air from the towering volcanic eruptions. This "seventh trumpet" announces the Rapture; the Catching Out of what few "Saved", a.k.a.: the True Christian Believers have survived thus far, through the previous 6 Trumpets. This is the third "Woe" upon the earth.
The Wrath of God
The Apostle John explains the wrath of God in a picture of catastrophic terror and horrors coming upon the earth because of the wickedness of humanity and in order to make necessary changes in the geological structure in the land of Israel. This period of the wrath of God lasts only for about 45 days. These events occur after the Rapture of the Saved from the earth. They are a continuation and an increase of intensity of the seven trumpets which have just been completed.
The entire text is found in Revelation 16:1-21.
Revelation 16:2 – 1st plague – a shift in the magnetic field of the earth, from the earthquakes, leaving the earth temporarily without its protective shield, resulting in cosmic radiation mutilating the human flesh of those who worship the beast or Islamic antichrist.
Revelation 16:3 – 2nd plague – the heating of the oceans by undersea lava causing the reproduction of various dinoflagellates at a fantastic rate, producing oxidation and red tide.
Revelation 16:4-7 – 3rd plague – a poisoning of the earth's freshwater supply by a comet's release of methyl cyanide, hydrogen cyanide and a whole range of cyanogenic poisonous gases into the hydrological cycle.
Revelation 16:8-9 – 4th plague – destruction of the ozone layer by volcanic activity, allowing penetration of ultraviolet radiation causing a burning skin cancer.
Revelation 16:10-11 – 5th plague – a massive pyroclastic holocaust from volcanic lava upon wicked humanity.
Revelation 16:12-16 – 6th plague – the releasing of three evil spirits, causing people to worship the antichrist and to gather for the battle of Armageddon, including the diversion of the Euphrates River towards the Jordan River valley.
Revelation 16:17-21 – 7th plague – the greatest earthquake to ever have occurred since humanity has been on earth will take place in the Jordan river valley, causing the city of Jerusalem to split into three sections and producing a chain reaction of earthquakes, which will cause the cities of the nations of the world to fall into ruin, ending with catastrophic global volcanic activity, developing a single dust cloud encircling the entire planet earth.
Volcanic Hailstorm… calaza chalaza khal'-ad-zah… Hail: chalaza khal'-ad-zah to lower (as into a void): to let down from a higher place to a lower; hail. [Greek: chalaza, hard lump, hailstone.]
Revelation 8:7: The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Revelation 11:19: And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thundering's, and an earthquake, and great hail.
Revelation 16:21: And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, [every stone] about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
This hail is mingled with a substance of a blood red color. It was cast upon the earth. It is associated with a third part of the trees being burned up. It is associated with all the green grass being burned up. It is associated with lightning, a tone of thunder, an earthquake and is great. It fell out of heaven. It had a tremendous effect upon humanity, because the plague was extremely great.
When the Great Tribulation Period begins, there will be absolutely no doubt as to what this hail really is. Just plain and simple: this hail will be molten rocks of volcanic hailstones that will cast out from the volcanic vents of the earth.
The majority of these events will be along the earths' tectonic plate boundaries. This hail noticeably begins on the 1st trumpet; it intensifies with the sounding of the 7th trumpet and becomes exceeding great upon the pouring out of the 7th vial of the wrath of God.
September, 2020: If you are watching the news about the Middle East Arab nations currently trying to make Peace with Israel, which is a good thing; but as a few more make Peace with Israel, this is actually leading up to the time when the Islamic Antichrist will take action as Israel has a sense of a time of Peace and Safety, then this Islamic Antichrist will be working with terrorist groups in the Middle East with the Arab Countries, to collectively work towards an invasion of Israel.
When this invasion occurs, the Arabs will kill 2/3's of the Jewish population in Israel according to Biblical Prophecy. A Great Earthquake will split the Mount of Olives and allow perhaps most of the Jews in Jerusalem to escape to the Negev Wilderness.
This Islamic Antichrist will conquer Jerusalem and the Land from Dan to Beersheba. He will then take control of Cairo, Egypt and establish his headquarters at Cairo for 3 1/2 years and create an Islamic Caliphate of ten Arab Nations. It will last for 3 1/2 years.
The Great Tribulation Period will begin at the start of the Great Earthquake and last for the duration of the 3 1/2 years. At the end of this time period, the Lord Jesus Christ will Return to defeat the Antichrist as he stands on the Temple Mount and declares himself to be God in flesh to the Islamic followers. This will end the 1,335 days of the Great Tribulation Period.
Christian Believers will still be on the earth during this 3 1/2 years of Tribulation and will caught out at the Rapture just before the last portion of the about 45 days of the Wrath of God, which will be the 7 Vials of the Book of Revelation.
In other words, as you see a few more Arab countries form some type of Peace Deal with Israel, then be on the watch for an invasion from Syria into Israel. This battle will last for about 75 days, then Jerusalem will be taken by the Arabs and the Land from Dan to Beersheba. A truce will be brokered with the Arabs and Israel after the battle for about 75 days. The Great Tribulation Period will continue with an increase number and degree of Earthquakes, Volcanic Eruptions and Tsunamis on a global scale.
It will finally end with the greatest Earthquake in human history in the Jordan River Valley of Israel, which will begin a surface motion that will cause all the cities of the world to fall into ruin. During this time, the Volcanic Eruptions would have developed a massive cloud of ash encircling the planet.
The final part of the Great Tribulation Period 3 1/2 years and mostly during the about last 45 days of the Wrath of God will be the Destruction of Rome, Italy and the Vatican City at the very end of this time period; perhaps just a few days before the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This event will be one of the most amazing and profound in the history of humanity:
The Volcanic Burning of the Vatican City
Revelation 18: [8] Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. [9] And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, [10] Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come. [15] The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, [17] For in one hour so great riches is come to naught. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, [18] And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! [19] And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour is she made desolate.
The Greek word definitions:
Revelation 18:8 – utterly burned with fire – to burn up, blasted and consume by fire.
Revelation 18:9 – the smoke of her burning – the burning by which metals are roasted and reduced; by a figure drawn from a refiners fire; calamities or trials that test the character.
Revelation 18:10 and 15 – torment – to torture, a testing by the touchstone, which is a black siliceous stone used to test the purity of gold or silver by the color of the streak produced on it by rubbing it with either metal.
Revelation 18:17 and 19 – come to naught and made desolate – to make desolate, lay waste, to ruin, bring to desolation, to despoil one, strip her of her treasures.
Revelation 11:18 – And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which DESTROY the earth.
The 7 Vials of the Wrath of God will be so great of a destruction, that the majority of humanity will be destroyed during this about a 45 day period, which will be the last portion of the 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation Period, that perhaps only a few hundred million people will be allowed to enter into the Millennial Reign.
Greek word Number: 1311 diaphtheírō (from 1223 /diá, "thoroughly," which intensifies 5351 /phtheírō, "defile, corrupt") – properly, thoroughly corrupt, totally degenerate (disintegrate); waste away by the decaying influence of moral (spiritual) impurity; "utterly corrupt"; becoming thoroughly disabled (morally depraved), "all the way through" ("utterly decayed").
Vine, Unger, White (NT, 130), "1311 (diaphtheírō) comes from dia, 'through,' 'intensive,' to corrupt utterly, through and through." The noun form, 1312 (diaphthorá), likewise means "thorough decay."
From diaballo and phtheiro; to rot thoroughly, i.e. (by implication) to ruin (passively, decay utterly, figuratively, pervert) — corrupt, destroy, perish. To change for the worse, to corrupt: minds, morals; τήν γῆν, i. e. the men that inhabit the earth, Revelation 11:18.
The purpose of the wrath of God will be to destroy those of humanity who have morally corrupted the earth. It is true, that all of humanity is corrupt to the core of their souls, but there are countless millions of people whose corruption has such an influence, that they are actually causing the billions of humanity to become even more morally corrupt by changing their minds for the worse, to the point of becoming thoroughly rotten.
(And should destroy them which destroy the earth.) The Greek word for the second English word destroy has to do with morality.
It can be translated as: and destroy and bring to ruin, causing them to perish, which destroy by morally corrupting the occupants of the earth and have caused them to become thoroughly rotten, by changing their minds and morals for the worse.
The Lord Jesus Christ will return as the Parousia in bodily presence through this Volcanic Ash Cloud and begin His Millennial Reign. The Glory of the Brightness of His body will illuminate sufficiently to be refracted visibly surrounding the entire planet and every human will see Him upon His Return.
The Great Tribulation Period will be composed of the 7 Trumpets and 7 Vials of the Book of Revelation. True Christian Believers will be on earth until the 7th Trumpet, in which case; whoever may survive the 1st thru 6th Trumpet, will be caught out on the 7th Trumpet. The Spiritually Lost human beings who survive the 7 Trumpets will have to endure the 7 Vials of the Wrath of God, which will last about 45 days. The majority of the population on earth will die during this Time Period, with perhaps only a few hundred million entering the Millennial Reign.
Antichrist Islamic Attack Events up to the Second Advent of Christ
Daniel's 70 Weeks of Years Clock stopped with 1,335 days left to complete fulfillment. It will start to tick off some 1,335 days when Islam attacks Israel. Some 75 days later a truce will be declared at Beersheba, and Israel will be left in a state of Peace and safety for 3+ years. The truce will be broken when the Antichrist stands on the Temple Mount as the Antichrist claiming to be God and kills the two witnesses. Some 3 and ½ Days later they will be caught up for all to see, and immediately thereafter, perhaps on the same day, all the saved, including the 144,000 sealed Jews, will be caught up on the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet. For the first time in history all the saved will be in heaven in glorified bodies to be judged for their apparel rewards, while the wrath of God is poured out on the earth in Seven Vials.
Some 45 days after Jerusalem falls, and the Israelis withdraw south to Negev's Beersheba, the UN, US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China, broker a truce twixt Islam and Negev Israel. This hudna truce period of Peace and safety will last for 3+ years. The Antichrist will then defeat the Egyptian Army and establish his Caliphate Capital at Cairo. He will use the 3+ years to quickly build a gigantic Caliphate as many Islamic nations jump on his bandwagon. It is likely to include the following nations with majority Muslim populations: Iran, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and all the nations on its borders, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Taijhistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Jordan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkistan, and Kirghizia.
Israel remains surrounded in the Negev on its three borders during its 3+ year truce period. Antichrist will be an abnormally strong super intelligent individual, who is a satanically energized Islamic military leader, and God puts a fear of this man of sin in the hearts of leaders in his Caliphate to obey him. Because of this, Antichrist will be able to bond together the 10 toes of Daniel 2 for some 1,335 days after his initial attack against Israel. The 10 horns in Daniel 7:24 and Revelation 17:12 and 17 are, of course, the same as the 10 toes in Daniel 2. Jesus will destroy this beast and the kingdoms following him at His Armageddon Second Advent, when He comes as KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Antichrist will command and force all terrorist groups to stop all attacks inside borders of Negev Israel and to end all missile launches into the Negev, because he will need to gain international support as he organizes his control over his growing Caliphate, and also needs to lull Negev Israel and the West into the false sense of "Peace and safety" in I Thessalonians 5:3. When the last trump sounds, which is the last trump in the series of seven, then the rapture occurs, after which the wrath of God is poured on the earth in seven vials. Remembering chapter divisions in the KJV New Testament were artificially supplied by its translators, and that the context subject between chapters 4 and 5 does not change, please consider I Thessalonians 4:16 to 5:5.
The children of light will not know the exact day when Israel is pushed into the Negev, but they will have a general idea because they are not children of darkness.
While the 3 plus years of Israel in the Negev are occurring, those who continue to remain in darkness will still not believe, even as they see the events occurring, and will deny they mean anything, but many will come out of darkness when they see prophecies fulfilled, and will call upon the name of the Lord to save them in the tribulation period.
Israel will remain surrounded by Islam for some 1,260 days after the truce or hudna is declared – Near the end of this time, because the Antichrist has prohibited his forces from launching missiles into Israel as well as all internal Negev terrorist activity, the world and Israel will breathe a huge sigh of relief, and begin to believe "Peace and safety" has finally come to the Middle East. But once this attitude reaches a big majority among both Jews and non-Islamists, sudden destruction will come on Israel. This sets the stage for the 7th Trumpet to sound.
Surrounded and trapped in the Negev, Israel "shall be given into his hand" like a man kept in a well by an enemy. But Israel will be supplied with food, clothing, and logistic needs by friendly nations who drop these things down from above into the Negev well. They in Revelation 12:6 refers to some friendly nations of the West who airlift supplies in to them. The Russians did not shoot down the planes that airlifted supplies into our Berlin section after WW-2 because they did not want a WW-3. The Islamic Antichrist will allow this future airlift to the Israel Negev for the same reason until the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet.
More than 45 days before the Second Advent Antichrist will return to Jerusalem from his Cairo Caliphate Capital. He will kill the two witnesses some 45 days before the Second Advent, after they have testified to Israel in the Negev for 42 prophetic months (1,260 days). At that time Antichrist declares himself to God while standing on the Temple Mount. The Antichrist himself is the abomination that maketh desolate. Three things happen immediately some 3 and ½ days after the 2 witnesses are killed, and they occur in rapid succession – the language makes it possible, even likely, they are on the same day, manner.
The 2 witnesses ascend up to heaven through the clouds.
A great earthquake occurs during the same hour in Jerusalem after they go up.
The 7th Trumpet (last trump) sounds – All the True Christian Believers on earth, including the 144,000 sealed Jews, are caught up, and the mystery of the Rapture will be finished.
The 7 vials of God's wrath will be poured out on an unbelieving earth for some 45 days between the 7th Trumpet Rapture and His Second Advent return, which will end the Tribulation Period at the final battle of Armageddon.
Christ returns at His Second Advent with the saved to end the 7 vials of wrath, deliver Israel by leading her out of the Negev to victory and promised occupation of a huge Land Grant he gave to Jacob (Israel) through Abraham and Isaac, and to destroy the Antichrist and False Prophet.
P.S. The "abomination that maketh desolate" may not only be the bodily person of the Islamic Antichrist, but a statue of the individual of which will be constructed and placed on the Temple Mount.
To anyone viewing my websites: in no way, shape, form or fashion, do I think all of the material on my websites are the most correct interpretation of the events of Prophecy from the Holy Bible. I was taught by Pastor Tom McElmurry for some 41 years. I have listened to his Sermons many times and have read the studies on his website likewise, many times to try to understand the Trumpets and Vials of Revelation.
If I have mailed you any material, such as Books or simply a flyer, then my only purpose is to provide information that will be of help to you and eventually, even the people you influence, as to help you understand what is occurring, when these End Time events begin to unfold. If my mailing you something was not welcomed, then forgive me, accept my apology and be at Peace.
I realize, perhaps most of you, as is generally the norm in our world, have very limited knowledge of the Great Tribulation Period teachings and to be honest, most people really do not care to know. As the majority of people are probably overwhelmed with life and that is all they want to be concerned with. Understandable!!!
At the current age of 62 (2022), having Pastored and Preached in Baptist Churches for some 35 years and having worked in the community of the world for some 44 years, I do realize the attitude of people toward Life. Most people spend their overwhelming thoughts about their Earth Life and nothing more. I truly Understand.
Nevertheless, when these events begin to occur, at least you might have some insight as to what is happening and this information will be helpful to you and to the people you have influence upon.
A composite of the Hebrew words for Joel 2:30: And I will show a token, a sign and wonder in the visible arch of the sky where the clouds move and throughout all the earth, in the fields, in the country, in the wilderness and it will have the appearance of blood, along with a burning, hot flaming fire, with columns of cloudy dust, smoke and vapor.
A composite of the Hebrew words for Joel 2:31: The brilliant sun, from the rising of the sun in the east to the sun rays in the arch ways of the sky, will be changed into darkness, as if it were night and the moon will take on the appearance of blood before the great and noble, fearful and terrible day in which Jehovah, the self-Existing One, the Eternal Lord shall come.
A composite of the Greek words for Acts 2:19: And I will bring forth a rare event so extraordinary, it will inspire wonder, for it will be in the elevated area of the sky and a token of these events, will be throughout the entire regions under the surface of the soil, of all the land of the world, for it will be a visible wonder of flowing substance like blood, of flashes of lightening and fire, with a mist of smoke.
A composite of the Greek words for Acts 2:20: The rising of the sun in the east and the rays of daily light will become as an outlining shadow and the bright shining moon, will appear to be a blood red color, before that mighty and visible day in which the One in supreme authority will come.
The Sign of The Second Coming of the Lord: The following is an expanded translation, based upon all of the information from seventeen different translations, including the definitions of the Greek words and all related Scriptures, in regards to the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. What will be the sign and token to indicate and signify, when these predictions and events are about to take place, to be accomplished and fulfilled; regarding the coming and bodily presence of your return?
2. And of the entire, full, completed and specific period of time, of the end of the age and of the end of the world?
3. For the Gentle nations, the heathen and pagan people will rise up and move up against and among one another and bordering nations and kingdom against kingdom, one place of reign touching another.
4. There will be famines, a lack of food, causing destitution of people being without food.
5. An outburst of diseases, plagues, pestilences and troubles.
6. And great earth-shocks, earthquakes and a great shaking of the ground, causing it to tremble, shake sideways and back and forth, for the earth will be shaking in divers or different and various places, down through its' distribution in many locations.
7. And there will be great signs of terror and fearful sights from heaven.
8. All these are the beginning, of the grief, the first of the troubles and sorrows, like the early pains and travail of childbirth.
9. And there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And should destroy and bring to ruin them which morally corrupt the earth. And there were lightning and voices and thundering and an earthquake and great hail.
10. Watch ye therefore and take heed to yourselves, for you do not know what hour your Lord will come. It may be during the evening or at midnight or in the early morning; What I say unto you I say to all, Watch. Therefore, be ye always ready and do not let your hearts be burdened and weighted down with a life filled with self-indulgence and pleasure, with a state of drunkenness and the cares and worries of life; in case the Lord comes and finds you sleeping, for in such an hour in which you are unaware and are not thinking, the Lord will come. For these things of life will be a snare and trap upon all who dwell upon the earth. Watch and pray that you may be accounted worthy to escape these things that will come to pass and to be allowed to stand before the Son of Man. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
11. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: In an almost indivisible moment of time, at the instant of the jerking and twinkling of the eye, at the farthest, final, last, towards the latter end of the uttermost trumpet, for the trumpet will sound; To seize; to take for oneself, catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force); take or grasp something {someone} abruptly or hastily with emphasis on the idea of suddenness or quickness; and the dead in Christ shall rise first: the dead will be waken and rise up to a state of undecaying immortality and we shall be changed and made different; Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
12. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
13. Immediately after the pressure, affliction, anguish, burden, persecution, oppression, distress, tribulation and trouble of those days; as a sign, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars of heaven shall fall from the firmament of the sky; and upon the earth there will be distress of the nations, having a mental state of having no way out, as in bewilderment and confusion, because of the loud roaring of the sea and roaring waves; and the forces and powers that control heaven will be shaken, moved in disorder and will be disturbed.
14.And there were noises/voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
15. And then shall they see the sign of the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the sky with power and great glory and all the tribes of the earth shall smite the breast and mourn.
16.And shall he send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and gather his elect from the uttermost end of the heavens.
Do not let it take you a life time to try and understand the following verses of Scripture. If someone is attempting to teach you the Word of God; correctly, then you should appreciate the opportunity given to you in your life.
Isaiah 52: [7] How Beautiful upon the Mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth Peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
Nahum 1: [15] Behold upon the Mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth Peace!
Romans 10: [12] For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. [13] For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be Saved. [14] How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a Preacher? [15] And how shall they Preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How Beautiful are the feet of them that Preach the Gospel of Peace and bring glad tidings of good things!
Fare ye well to one and all…
Are you preparing yourself to appear before the One Being Lord God Almighty, pantokratór, παντοκράτωρ: Who is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnibenevolent; with Absolute Sovereignty over all things in this ~5% Binary Matter Universe, with its' ~2 trillion galaxies, created ~14 billion years ago and in the ~68% Dark Energy and ~27% Dark Matter Universe, which has existed in infinity: in which the One Being visually abides?
Tom McElmurry is a pastor who holds University, Seminary, and Institutional degrees in Physical Science, Theology, and Divinity. He was certified as a Meteorologist in 1954 by the United States Air Force; became a member of the American Meteorological Society in 1962; served in the Mid-eastern, African, European, and Far-Eastern Theaters as a Meteorologist; and is a member of the Israel Geological Society. He worked as a tornado forecaster in the Kansas City Severe Weather Service, and as an analyst for the National Security Agency, retiring from the USAF-NSA in 1971. He has taught Physics, Chemistry, Physical Science, Biology, and Earth Science in the public school system as a certified teacher, and has written three books: Tectonic Chaos, Tribulation Triad, and Tribulation Birth Pangs from the Bottomless Pit. He has also written scientific articles published by the USAF and the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. He Pastored Dardanelle Missionary Baptist Church for 45 years; since 1974. His military and civilian education includes 2,730 clock hours of meteorological instruction in USAF selected institutions of higher learning, and more than 265 University and Seminary hours in undergraduate and graduate studies. He has lectured worldwide in 20 Missionary Baptist colleges and seminaries; and in more than 800 Missionary Baptist Churches in Lithuania, Romania, Africa, and the U.S.A. He is a distinguished graduate of the USAFMAC Military Academy.
His website is: www.TribulationPeriod.com
On April 5, 2019; Pastor Thomas Marshal McElmurry passed from this earth life into the Eternal Spiritual Life.
As creator of this website: I was a member of the church at Dardanelle, Arkansas, U.S.A., for many years and was able to obtain some of his Sermons on cassette tapes and cd's through the years, as I was influenced by his teachings for some 41 years. All of the Sermons on my websites are his and most of the studies are likewise from his books and website. My desire is simply to share this information with anyone in the world who might enjoy the information.
March 12, 2020: a short message to anyone viewing this website. When Israel thinks it is safely surrounded by the Islamic nations; then the 1,335 days End Time Prophecy will begin; then the forces of Islam will attack Israel, then we know the process of the 1,260 days will begin. As True Christian Believers, we know the 7th Trumpet Rapture will take place near the end of this 3 1/2 year period. Afterwards, about a 45 day Wrath of God will occur on the earth; then the Second Advent or Parousia will take place; then the Millennial Reign will begin. There is enough information on this website to provided an outline of these events, in order to give you insight to what and when such events will unfold.
The masses of humanity, including the majority of all the Religious and World Leaders will all be caught by surprise; including the overwhelming vast almost 8 billion population of the human race are totally ignorant of these Biblical Truths; because they do not want to know the Truth. Therefore, God allows them to be in a state of delusion, that they might believe a lie; not only about Salvation but about many other things in the Word of God; including the Second Coming.
II Thessalonians 2: [1] Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, [2] That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. [3] Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; [4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. [5] Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? [6] And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. [7] For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. [8] And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: [9] Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, [10] And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. [11] And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: [12] That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
A personal note: of all the events, things, interacting with people and journeys in my life; the greatest and by far the most important fact of my life: is to have been given the opportunity by the Creator to learn about the Lord Jesus Christ; the Millennial Reign and the Heavenly Age from the Bible.
From having been able to learn and read the three different Greek New Testament Texts; hundreds of Bible Dictionaries; Word Studies; Lexicons; Bible related Magazines and various Bible based publications. I have no greater joy, than to have had such a privilege in my earth-human life.
A tremendous number of people in the past and even more so, in the present, invest so much into the things of Earth Life. I am so very, very glad, the majority of my investments have been in Spiritual things. My efforts, time, money and thoughts have been applied to Spiritual things and I do not have the words in my mind to explain how thankful I that makes me feel. I look forward to my departure into the Eternal Existence, beyond the elements of this Earth Life. What an amazement it is going to be, to be awakened into infinity before the One Being and be given assignments directly from the One Being, the Creator.
Thank You God!!! Thank You, Thank You and again, Thank You…
Malachi 4:1 – For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Because of the (Arrogant – Prideful) – Rebellious mindset and (Ethical – Religious Evil) – Wickedness of the Parents in this last generation and their influence upon their Children; the Lord of Hosts – (Warfare) will cause a Destruction of Volcanic Fire, that will be so widespread upon the Earth; it will destroy the Parents and even their Children. It will be such a Massive Destruction of Volcanic Fire across the entire global Earth; there will be very few people alive on Earth to enter the Millennial Reign.
Just as the ancient people use earthen mounds for a fire pot, for cooking, etc.; the LORD of Hosts, who is the LORD of Warfare, will use the fire of the earth; because it will come out from Volcanic Vents and Fissures across the surface on a global scale and will literally burn most of humanity from the earth.
Volcano Discovery YouTube Videos
Here are some Links to the Volcano Discovery YouTube site, which shows many amazing Videos about different Volcanic Eruptions.
Here are some Links to some YouTube Videos that deal with the events related to the Beginning of Sorrows of the New Testament.
These types of events are going to get worse in the years ahead, as the Great Tribulation Period approaches.
This time period will last for 3 1/2 years, then at the very end of this Time Period, the Wrath of God will take place and last for about 45 days.
These Videos are mostly Volcanic Eruption events, as these are the primary events that will be occurring during this Great Tribulation Period.
This first section are what I consider to be the Best Volcanic Videos as they show a lot of the Volcanic Bombs, Fire, Lava and some Ash Cloud eruptions that is described in the Book of Revelation.
Most people of the world will have no idea what is occurring on a global scene, because they are have no knowledge of the Bible and are not being taught the Book of Revelation by religious leaders. The truth is, most religious leaders are totally ignorant of these things anyway, so how can they be expected to teach anyone else?
01.Volcano Discovery YouTube Channel
02.Lava fountains of Etna volcano
03.Etna volcano lava fountains
04.Etna volcano lava fountains
05.Etna volcano
06.Etna volcano
07.Etna volcano
08.Etna volcano lava fountains
09.Giant lava bubble explosion – Etna volcano
10.Etna volcano lava fountains
11.Etna volcano
14.Krakatau volcano: spectacular large explosion 17 Oct 2018
15.Anak Krakatau Powerful Blast
16.Best evening show on the beach of Krakatoa volcano
18.Krakatoa volcano erupts red hot lava
19.Evening eruption at Anak Krakatau
21.Volcano Expedition to Krakatoa
22.Volcanic Lightnings at Krakatau Volcano
23.Krakatau volcano – spectacular explosions at day and night
25.Erta Ale volcano, Danakil, Ethiopia
26.Rain of fire – a shower of liquid red hot lava
27.Happy New Year 2019 – volcano fireworks from Krakatoa
28.Eruptions of Anak Krakatau Pre Tsunami
This Second Section are other Videos on this YouTube site:
01.Spattering lava from a crater of Ambrym volcano, Vanuatu
02.Spattering from the active south vent inside Benbow crater, Ambrym volcano (Vanuatu)
03.Volcanic eruption at Yasur volcano, Vanuatu
04.The lava lake of Erta Ale volcano overflows (Danakil desert, Ethiopia)
05.Overflowing boiling lava lake of Erta Ale volcano
06.Fireworks at the lava lake of Erta Ale in the twilight
07.Yellow fountain at Dallol volcano
08.Erupting lava lake at night
09.Fireworks at Erta Ale volcano, Nov 2010
10.Lava lake of Nyiragongo volcano
11.Lava lake of Nyiragongo volcano, DR Congo
12.Boiling lava lake in Nyiragongo volcano, DR Congo
13.Shock waves from Bromo volcano
14.Ijen Volcano – blue sulfur flames at night
15.Blue flames of burning sulfur at Ijen volcano at night
16.Kizimen volcano (Kamchatka) timelapse
17.Lava flow and large explosion from Stromboli volcano
YouTube Videos
Here are some Links to some YouTube Videos that deal with the events related to the Beginning of Sorrows of the New Testament.
These types of events are going to get worse in the years ahead, as the Great Tribulation Period approaches.
This time period will last for 3 1/2 years, then at the very end of this Time Period, the Wrath of God will take place and last for about 45 days.
These Videos are mostly Earthquake or Volcanic Eruption events, as these are the primary events that will be occurring during this Great Tribulation Period.
Some of these Sites have other items on them, but there are some Earthquake or Volcano Videos to view, as that is the objective of this page.
01.Eruption Volcano Merapi – Indonesia
02.Top 5 Volcano Eruptions Caught on Camera
03.Top 10 Volcanoes That Are Ready To Blow
04.10 Volcanoes That Could Destroy The World
05.Massive Volcano Eruptions Caught On Camera
The following are links to a YouTube site that has some Excellent volcanic videos.
A.Martin Rietze: Volcano Videos Home Page
04.Klyuchevskoy – Oct 31, 2013
07.Etna in Timelapse – Dec 1, 2013
09.Sinabung Pyroclastic Flows – Jan 26, 2014
10.Sinabung Pyroclastic Flows – Feb 2, 2014
11.Etna-Lava Flows – Feb 22, 2104
12.Etna Summit Crater Activity – Feb 22, 2014
13.Stromboli Volcano – Aug 3, 2014
14.Stromboli Volcano – Aug 15, 2014
15.Bardarbunga Eruption – Sep 11, 2014
16.Fogo Eruption – Dec 12, 2014
17.Colima Volcano – Feb 17, 2015
18.Sakurajima Volcano – Mar 15, 2015
19.Sakurajima Daytime Eruptions – Mar 15, 2015
20.Colima Volcano – Nov 3, 2015
21.Etna Eruption – Dec 13, 2015
22.Rinjani Volcano – Jan 6, 2016
24.Colima Volcano – Jan 9, 2016
25.Ijen Blueflame – Jan 17, 2016
26.Karangetang Volcano – Jan 17, 2016
27.Momotombo Volcano – Feb 25, 2016
28.Masaya Volcano – May 16, 2016
29.Masaya Lava Lake – May 29, 2016
30.Masaya volcano lava lake eruptions
31.Fuego Volcano – Nov 7, 2016
The Fuego Volcano is amazing. Listen the sounds and watch the Lava Eruption… During the very last part of the Great Tribulation Period, known as the Wrath of God, there will perhaps be thousands of these types of Volcanic Eruptions on a much more violent nature occurring throughout the world. Check out the following link as to the reaction of humanity during this event:
32.Momotombo Volcano – Feb 26, 2017
33.Sabancaya Volcano – Mar 12, 2017
34.Reventador Volcano – Dec 26, 2017
35.Fuego Volcano – Dec 26, 2017
36.Pacaya Volcano – Apr 2, 2018
37.Sangeang Api Volcano – Oct 14, 2018
The following is from:
An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp change in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It occurs when the rate of extinction increases with respect to the rate of speciation. Estimates of the number of major mass extinctions in the last 540 million years range from as few as five to more than twenty.
Major extinction events
In a landmark paper published in 1982, Jack Sepkoski and David M. Raup identified five mass extinctions. They were originally identified as outliers to a general trend of decreasing extinction rates during the Phanerozoic,[6] but as more stringent statistical tests have been applied to the accumulating data, it has been established that multicellular animal life has experienced five major and many minor mass extinctions.[7] The "Big Five" cannot be so clearly defined, but rather appear to represent the largest (or some of the largest) of a relatively smooth continuum of extinction events.[6]
1. Ordovician–Silurian extinction events (End Ordovician or O–S): 450–440 Mya at the Ordovician–Silurian transition. Two events occurred that killed off 27% of all families, 57% of all genera and 85% of all species.[8] Together they are ranked by many scientists as the second-largest of the five major extinctions in Earth's history in terms of percentage of genera that became extinct. In May 2020, studies suggested the cause of the mass extinction was due to global warming, related to volcanism, and anoxia, and not due, as considered earlier, to cooling and glaciation.[9][10] However, this is at odds with numerous previous studies, which have indicated global cooling as the primary driver.[11] Most recently, the deposition of volcanic ash has been suggested to be the trigger for reductions in atmospheric carbon dioxide leading to the glaciation and anoxia observed in the geological record.[12] 2. Late Devonian extinction 375–360 Ma near the Devonian–Carboniferous transition. At the end of the Frasnian Age in the later part(s) of the Devonian Period, a prolonged series of extinctions eliminated about 19% of all families, 50% of all genera[8] and at least 70% of all species.[13] This extinction event lasted perhaps as long as 20 million years, and there is evidence for a series of extinction pulses within this period. 3. Permian–Triassic extinction event (End Permian) 252 Ma at the Permian–Triassic transition.[14]
Earth's largest extinction killed 57% of all families, 83% of all genera and 90% to 96% of all species[8] (53% of marine families, 84% of marine genera, about 81% of all marine species and an estimated 70% of land species,[4] including insects).[15] The highly successful marine arthropod, the trilobite, became extinct. The evidence regarding plants is less clear, but new taxa became dominant after the extinction.[16] The "Great Dying" had enormous evolutionary significance: On land, it ended the primacy of early synapsids. The recovery of vertebrates took 30 million years,[17] but the vacant niches created the opportunity for archosaurs to become ascendant. In the seas, the percentage of animals that were sessile dropped from 67% to 50%.
The whole late Permian was a difficult time, at least for marine life, even before the P–T boundary extinction. More recent research has indicated that the End-Capitanian extinction event that preceded the "Great Dying" likely constitutes a separate event from the P–T extinction; if so, it would be larger than many of the "Big Five" extinction events, and perhaps merit a separate place in this list immediately before this one.
4. | Triassic–Jurassic extinction event (End Triassic) 201.3 Ma at the Triassic–Jurassic transition. About 23% of all families, 48% of all genera (20% of marine families and 55% of marine genera) and 70% to 75% of all species became extinct.[8] Most non-dinosaurian archosaurs, most therapsids, and most of the large amphibians were eliminated, leaving dinosaurs with little terrestrial competition. Non-dinosaurian archosaurs continued to dominate aquatic environments, while non-archosaurian diapsids continued to dominate marine environments. The Temnospondyl lineage of large amphibians also survived until the Cretaceous in Australia (e.g., Koolasuchus).
5. | Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (End Cretaceous, K–Pg extinction, or formerly K–T extinction) 66 Ma at the Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) – Paleogene (Danian) transition interval.[18]
The event was formerly called the Cretaceous-Tertiary or K–T extinction or K–T boundary; it is now officially named the Cretaceous–Paleogene (or K–Pg) extinction event. About 17% of all families, 50% of all genera[8] and 75% of all species became extinct.[19] In the seas all the ammonites, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs disappeared and the percentage of sessile animals (those unable to move about) was reduced to about 33%. All non-avian dinosaurs became extinct during that time.[20] The boundary event was severe with a significant amount of variability in the rate of extinction between and among different clades. Mammals and birds, the former descended from the synapsids and the latter from theropod dinosaurs, emerged as dominant terrestrial animals.
Despite the popularization of these five events, there is no definite line separating them from other extinction events; using different methods of calculating an extinction's impact can lead to other events featuring in the top five.[21]
Older fossil records are more difficult to interpret. This is because:
- Older fossils are harder to find as they are usually buried at a considerable depth.
- Dating of older fossils is more difficult.
- Productive fossil beds are researched more than unproductive ones, therefore leaving certain periods unresearched.
- Prehistoric environmental events can disturb the deposition process.
- The preservation of fossils varies on land, but marine fossils tend to be better preserved than their sought after land-based counterparts.[22]
It has been suggested that the apparent variations in marine biodiversity may actually be an artifact, with abundance estimates directly related to quantity of rock available for sampling from different time periods.[23] However, statistical analysis shows that this can only account for 50% of the observed pattern,[citation needed] and other evidence such as fungal spikes (geologically rapid increase in fungal abundance) provides reassurance that most widely accepted extinction events are real. A quantification of the rock exposure of Western Europe indicates that many of the minor events for which a biological explanation has been sought are most readily explained by sampling bias.[24]
Research completed after the seminal 1982 paper (Sepkoski and Raup) has concluded that a sixth mass extinction event is ongoing:
6. Holocene extinction currently ongoing. Extinctions have occurred at over 1000 times the background extinction rate since 1900, and the rate is increasing.[25][26][a] The mass extinction is a result of human activity,[28][29][30][31] driven by population growth and overconsumption of the earth's natural resources.[b] The 2019 global biodiversity assessment by IPBES asserts that out of an estimated 8 million species, 1 million plant and animal species are currently threatened with extinction.[33][34][35][36] In late 2021, WWF Germany suggested that over a million species could go extinct within a decade in the "largest mass extinction event since the end of the dinosaur age."[37]
There is still debate about the causes of all mass extinctions. In general, large extinctions may result when a biosphere under long-term stress undergoes a short-term shock.[53] An underlying mechanism appears to be present in the correlation of extinction and origination rates to diversity. High diversity leads to a persistent increase in extinction rate; low diversity to a persistent increase in origination rate. These presumably ecologically controlled relationships likely amplify smaller perturbations (asteroid impacts, etc.) to produce the global effects observed.[6]
Identifying causes of specific mass extinctions
A good theory for a particular mass extinction should:
- explain all of the losses, not just focus on a few groups (such as dinosaurs);
- explain why particular groups of organisms died out and why others survived;
- provide mechanisms that are strong enough to cause a mass extinction but not a total extinction;
- be based on events or processes that can be shown to have happened, not just inferred from the extinction.
It may be necessary to consider combinations of causes. For example, the marine aspect of the end-Cretaceous extinction appears to have been caused by several processes that partially overlapped in time and may have had different levels of significance in different parts of the world.[58]
Arens and West (2006) proposed a "press / pulse" model in which mass extinctions generally require two types of cause: long-term pressure on the eco-system ("press") and a sudden catastrophe ("pulse") towards the end of the period of pressure.[59] Their statistical analysis of marine extinction rates throughout the Phanerozoic suggested that neither long-term pressure alone nor a catastrophe alone was sufficient to cause a significant increase in the extinction rate.
Most widely supported explanations
MacLeod (2001)[60] summarized the relationship between mass extinctions and events that are most often cited as causes of mass extinctions, using data from Courtillot, Jaeger & Yang et al. (1996),[61] Hallam (1992)[62] and Grieve & Pesonen (1992): [63]
- Flood basalt events (giant volcanic eruptions): 11 occurrences, all associated with significant extinctions[d][e]
But Wignall (2001) concluded that only five of the major extinctions coincided with flood basalt eruptions and that the main phase of extinctions started before the eruptions.[64]
- Sea-level falls: 12, of which seven were associated with significant extinctions.[e]
- Asteroid impacts: one large impact is associated with a mass extinction, that is, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event; there have been many smaller impacts but they are not associated with significant extinctions,[65] or cannot be dated precisely enough. The impact that created the Siljan Ring either was just before the Late Devonian Extinction or coincided with it.[66]
The most commonly suggested causes of mass extinctions are listed below.
Flood basalt events
The formation of large igneous provinces by flood basalt events could have:
- produced dust and particulate aerosols, which inhibited photosynthesis and thus caused food chains to collapse both on land and at sea[67]
- emitted sulfur oxides that were precipitated as acid rain and poisoned many organisms, contributing further to the collapse of food chains
- emitted carbon dioxide and thus possibly causing sustained global warming once the dust and particulate aerosols dissipated.
Flood basalt events occur as pulses of activity punctuated by dormant periods. As a result, they are likely to cause the climate to oscillate between cooling and warming, but with an overall trend towards warming as the carbon dioxide they emit can stay in the atmosphere for hundreds of years.
It is speculated that massive volcanism caused or contributed to the End-Permian, End-Triassic and End-Cretaceous extinctions.[68] The correlation between gigantic volcanic events expressed in the large igneous provinces and mass extinctions was shown for the last 260 million years.[69][70] Recently such possible correlation was extended across the whole Phanerozoic Eon.[71]
Sea-level falls
These are often clearly marked by worldwide sequences of contemporaneous sediments that show all or part of a transition from sea-bed to tidal zone to beach to dry land – and where there is no evidence that the rocks in the relevant areas were raised by geological processes such as orogeny. Sea-level falls could reduce the continental shelf area (the most productive part of the oceans) sufficiently to cause a marine mass extinction, and could disrupt weather patterns enough to cause extinctions on land. But sea-level falls are very probably the result of other events, such as sustained global cooling or the sinking of the mid-ocean ridges.
Sea-level falls are associated with most of the mass extinctions, including all of the "Big Five"—End-Ordovician, Late Devonian, End-Permian, End-Triassic, and End-Cretaceous.
A 2008 study, published in the journal Nature, established a relationship between the speed of mass extinction events and changes in sea level and sediment.[72] The study suggests changes in ocean environments related to sea level exert a driving influence on rates of extinction, and generally determine the composition of life in the oceans.[73]
Impact events
The impact of a sufficiently large asteroid or comet could have caused food chains to collapse both on land and at sea by producing dust and particulate aerosols and thus inhibiting photosynthesis.[74] Impacts on sulfur-rich rocks could have emitted sulfur oxides precipitating as poisonous acid rain, contributing further to the collapse of food chains. Such impacts could also have caused megatsunamis and/or global forest fires.
Most paleontologists now agree that an asteroid did hit the Earth about 66 Ma, but there is lingering dispute whether the impact was the sole cause of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.[75][76]
Nonetheless, in October 2019, researchers reported that the Cretaceous Chicxulub asteroid impact that resulted in the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs 66 Ma, also rapidly acidified the oceans, producing ecological collapse and long-lasting effects on the climate, and was a key reason for end-Cretaceous mass extinction.[77][78]
According to the Shiva Hypothesis, the Earth is subject to increased asteroid impacts about once every 27 million years because of the Sun's passage through the plane of the Milky Way galaxy, thus causing extinction events at 27 million year intervals. Some evidence for this hypothesis has emerged in both marine and non-marine contexts.[79] Alternatively, the Sun's passage through the higher density spiral arms of the galaxy could coincide with mass extinction on Earth, perhaps due to increased impact events.[80] However, a reanalysis of the effects of the Sun's transit through the spiral structure based on maps of the spiral structure of the Milky Way in CO molecular line emission has failed to find a correlation.[81]
Global cooling
Sustained and significant global cooling could kill many polar and temperate species and force others to migrate towards the equator; reduce the area available for tropical species; often make the Earth's climate more arid on average, mainly by locking up more of the planet's water in ice and snow. The glaciation cycles of the current ice age are believed to have had only a very mild impact on biodiversity, so the mere existence of a significant cooling is not sufficient on its own to explain a mass extinction.
It has been suggested that global cooling caused or contributed to the End-Ordovician, Permian–Triassic, Late Devonian extinctions, and possibly others. Sustained global cooling is distinguished from the temporary climatic effects of flood basalt events or impacts.
Global warming
This would have the opposite effects: expand the area available for tropical species; kill temperate species or force them to migrate towards the poles; possibly cause severe extinctions of polar species; often make the Earth's climate wetter on average, mainly by melting ice and snow and thus increasing the volume of the water cycle. It might also cause anoxic events in the oceans (see below).
Global warming as a cause of mass extinction is supported by several recent studies.[82]
The most dramatic example of sustained warming is the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, which was associated with one of the smaller mass extinctions. It has also been suggested to have caused the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, during which 20% of all marine families became extinct. Furthermore, the Permian–Triassic extinction event has been suggested to have been caused by warming.[83][84][85]
Clathrate gun hypothesis
Clathrates are composites in which a lattice of one substance forms a cage around another. Methane clathrates (in which water molecules are the cage) form on continental shelves. These clathrates are likely to break up rapidly and release the methane if the temperature rises quickly or the pressure on them drops quickly—for example in response to sudden global warming or a sudden drop in sea level or even earthquakes. Methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, so a methane eruption ("clathrate gun") could cause rapid global warming or make it much more severe if the eruption was itself caused by global warming.
The most likely signature of such a methane eruption would be a sudden decrease in the ratio of carbon-13 to carbon-12 in sediments, since methane clathrates are low in carbon-13; but the change would have to be very large, as other events can also reduce the percentage of carbon-13.[86]
It has been suggested that "clathrate gun" methane eruptions were involved in the end-Permian extinction ("the Great Dying") and in the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, which was associated with one of the smaller mass extinctions.
Anoxic events
Anoxic events are situations in which the middle and even the upper layers of the ocean become deficient or totally lacking in oxygen. Their causes are complex and controversial, but all known instances are associated with severe and sustained global warming, mostly caused by sustained massive volcanism.[87]
It has been suggested that anoxic events caused or contributed to the Ordovician–Silurian, late Devonian, Permian–Triassic and Triassic–Jurassic extinctions, as well as a number of lesser extinctions (such as the Ireviken, Mulde, Lau, Toarcian and Cenomanian–Turonian events). On the other hand, there are widespread black shale beds from the mid-Cretaceous that indicate anoxic events but are not associated with mass extinctions.
The bio-availability of essential trace elements (in particular selenium) to potentially lethal lows has been shown to coincide with, and likely have contributed to, at least three mass extinction events in the oceans, that is, at the end of the Ordovician, during the Middle and Late Devonian, and at the end of the Triassic. During periods of low oxygen concentrations very soluble selenate (Se6+) is converted into much less soluble selenide (Se2-), elemental Se and organo-selenium complexes. Bio-availability of selenium during these extinction events dropped to about 1% of the current oceanic concentration, a level that has been proven lethal to many extant organisms.[88]
British oceanologist and atmospheric scientist, Andrew Watson, explained that, while the Holocene epoch exhibits many processes reminiscent of those that have contributed to past anoxic events, full-scale ocean anoxia would take "thousands of years to develop".[89]
Hydrogen sulfide emissions from the seas
Kump, Pavlov and Arthur (2005) have proposed that during the Permian–Triassic extinction event the warming also upset the oceanic balance between photosynthesising plankton and deep-water sulfate-reducing bacteria, causing massive emissions of hydrogen sulfide, which poisoned life on both land and sea and severely weakened the ozone layer, exposing much of the life that still remained to fatal levels of UV radiation.[90][91][4]
Oceanic overturn
Oceanic overturn is a disruption of thermo-haline circulation that lets surface water (which is more saline than deep water because of evaporation) sink straight down, bringing anoxic deep water to the surface and therefore killing most of the oxygen-breathing organisms that inhabit the surface and middle depths. It may occur either at the beginning or the end of a glaciation, although an overturn at the start of a glaciation is more dangerous because the preceding warm period will have created a larger volume of anoxic water.[92]
Unlike other oceanic catastrophes such as regressions (sea-level falls) and anoxic events, overturns do not leave easily identified "signatures" in rocks and are theoretical consequences of researchers' conclusions about other climatic and marine events.
It has been suggested that oceanic overturn caused or contributed to the late Devonian and Permian–Triassic extinctions.
A nearby nova, supernova or gamma ray burst
A nearby gamma-ray burst (less than 6000 light-years away) would be powerful enough to destroy the Earth's ozone layer, leaving organisms vulnerable to ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.[93] Gamma ray bursts are fairly rare, occurring only a few times in a given galaxy per million years.[94] It has been suggested that a supernova or gamma ray burst caused the End-Ordovician extinction.[95]
Geomagnetic reversal
One theory is that periods of increased geomagnetic reversals will weaken Earth's magnetic field long enough to expose the atmosphere to the solar winds, causing oxygen ions to escape the atmosphere in a rate increased by 3–4 orders, resulting in a disastrous decrease in oxygen.[96]
Plate tectonics
Movement of the continents into some configurations can cause or contribute to extinctions in several ways: by initiating or ending ice ages; by changing ocean and wind currents and thus altering climate; by opening seaways or land bridges that expose previously isolated species to competition for which they are poorly adapted (for example, the extinction of most of South America's native ungulates and all of its large metatherians after the creation of a land bridge between North and South America). Occasionally continental drift creates a super-continent that includes the vast majority of Earth's land area, which in addition to the effects listed above is likely to reduce the total area of continental shelf (the most species-rich part of the ocean) and produce a vast, arid continental interior that may have extreme seasonal variations.
Another theory is that the creation of the super-continent Pangaea contributed to the End-Permian mass extinction. Pangaea was almost fully formed at the transition from mid-Permian to late-Permian, and the "Marine genus diversity" diagram at the top of this article shows a level of extinction starting at that time, which might have qualified for inclusion in the "Big Five" if it were not overshadowed by the "Great Dying" at the end of the Permian.[97]
Other hypotheses
Many other hypotheses have been proposed, such as the spread of a new disease, or simple out-competition following an especially successful biological innovation. But all have been rejected, usually for one of the following reasons: they require events or processes for which there is no evidence; they assume mechanisms that are contrary to the available evidence; they are based on other theories that have been rejected or superseded.
Scientists have been concerned that human activities could cause more plants and animals to become extinct than any point in the past. Along with human-made changes in climate (see above), some of these extinctions could be caused by overhunting, overfishing, invasive species, or habitat loss. A study published in May 2017 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences argued that a "biological annihilation" akin to a sixth mass extinction event is underway as a result of anthropogenic causes, such as over-population and over-consumption. The study suggested that as much as 50% of the number of animal individuals that once lived on Earth were already extinct, threatening the basis for human existence too.[98][30]
Explosive eruptions
In explosive eruptions, the eruption of magma is driven by the rapid release of pressure, often involving the explosion of gas previously dissolved within the material. The most famous and destructive historical eruptions are mainly of this type. An eruptive phase can consist of a single eruption, or a sequence of several eruptions spread over several days, weeks or months. Explosive eruptions usually involve thick, highly viscous, silicic or felsic magma, high in volatiles like water vapor and carbon dioxide. Pyroclastic materials are the primary product, typically in the form of tuff. Eruptions the size of that at Lake Toba 74,000 years ago, at least 2,800 cubic kilometres (670 cu mi), or the Yellowstone eruption 620,000 years ago, around 1,000 cubic kilometres (240 cu mi), occur worldwide every 50,000 to 100,000 years.[1][n 1]
Volcano—eruption[5] | Age (Millions of years)[n 2] | Location | Volume (km3)[n 3] | Notes | Ref. | |
Guarapuava —Tamarana—Sarusas | 132 | Paraná and Etendeka traps | 8,600 | The nature of eruption is disputed. Paraná Province suggests an effusive origin from local sources.[6][7] | [4] | |
Santa Maria—Fria | ~132 | Paraná and Etendeka traps | 7,800 | The nature of eruption is disputed. Paraná Province suggests an effusive origin from local sources.[6][7] | [4] | |
Lake Toba Caldera—Youngest Toba Tuff | 0.073 | Sunda Arc, Indonesia | 2,000–13,200 | Largest known eruption on earth in at least the last million years, possibly responsible for a population bottleneck of the human species (see Toba catastrophe theory) | [8] [9] [10][11] [12][13] | |
Guarapuava —Ventura | ~132 | Paraná and Etendeka traps | 7,600 | The nature of eruption is disputed. Paraná Province suggests an effusive origin from local sources.[6][7] | [4] | |
Flat Landing Brook Eruption | 466 | Flat Landing Brook Formation | 2,000–12,000 | One of the largest and oldest supereruptions. Existence as a single eruption is controversial. Possibly a multiple 2,000+ km³ event under a million years. | [14] [15] | |
Sam Ignimbrite and Green Tuff | 29.5 | Yemen | 6,797–6,803 | Volume includes 5550 km³ of distal tuffs. This estimate is uncertain to a factor of 2 or 3. | [16] | |
Goboboseb–Messum volcanic centre—Springbok quartz latite unit | 132 | Paraná and Etendeka traps, Brazil and Namibia | 6,340 | The nature of eruption is disputed. Paraná Province suggests an effusive origin from local sources.[6][7] | [17] | |
Wah Wah Springs Tuff | 30.06 | Indian Peak-Caliente Caldera Complex | 5,500–5,900 | The largest of the Indian Peak-Caliente Caldera Complex, and includes flows over 4,000 meters thick at the most. | [18] [10] | |
Caxias do Sul—Grootberg | ~132 | Paraná and Etendeka traps | 5,650 | The nature of eruption is disputed. Paraná Province suggests an effusive origin from local sources.[6][7] | [4] | |
La Garita Caldera—Fish Canyon Tuff | 27.8 | San Juan volcanic field, Colorado | 5,000 | Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma. | [19][20] | |
Lund Tuff | 29.2 | Indian Peak-Caliente Caldera Complex | 4,400 | Formed the White Rock Caldera, one of the largest eruptions of the Mid-Tertiary Ignimbrite flareup. | [18] | |
Jacui—Goboboseb II | ~132 | Paraná and Etendeka traps | 4,350 | The nature of eruption is disputed. Paraná Province suggests an effusive origin from local sources.[6][7] | [4] | |
Ourinhos—Khoraseb | ~132 | Paraná and Etendeka traps | 3,900 | The nature of eruption is disputed. Paraná Province suggests an effusive origin from local sources.[6][7] | [4] | |
Jabal Kura'a Ignimbrite | 29.6 | Yemen | 3,797–3,803 | Volume estimate is uncertain to a factor of 2 or 3. | [16] | |
Windows Butte tuff | 31.4 | William's Ridge, central Nevada | 3,500 | Part of the Mid-Tertiary ignimbrite flare-up | [21][22] | |
Anita Garibaldi—Beacon | ~132 | Paraná and Etendeka traps | 3,450 | The nature of eruption is disputed. Paraná Province suggests an effusive origin from local sources.[6][7] | [4] | |
Oxaya ignimbrites | 19 | Chile | 3,000 | Really a regional correlation of many ignimbrites originally thought to be distinct | [23] | |
Gakkel Ridge Caldera | 1.1 | Gakkel Ridge | 3,000 | It is the only known supervolcano located directly on the mid-ocean ridge. | ||
Grey's Landing Supereruption | 8.72 | Located in southern Idaho | 2,800 | One of 2 previously unknown Yellowstone hotspot Supereruptions; Largest Yellowstone eruption. | [24] | |
Pacana Caldera—Atana ignimbrite | 4 | Chile | 2,800 | Forms a resurgent caldera. | [25] | |
Mangakino Caldera—Kidnappers ignimbrite | 1.01 | Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand | 2,760 | [26] | ||
Iftar Alkalb—Tephra 4 W | 29.5 | Afro-Arabian | 2,700 | [4] | ||
Yellowstone Caldera—Huckleberry Ridge Tuff | 2.059 | Yellowstone hotspot | 2,450–2,500 | One of the largest Yellowstone eruptions on record | [27] [9] | |
Nohi Rhyolite—Gero Ash-Flow Sheet | 70 | Honshū, Japan | 2,200 | Nohi Rhyolite total volume over 7,000 km³ in 70 to 72 Ma, Gero Ash-Flow Sheet being the largest | [28] | |
Whakamaru | 0.254 | Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand | 2,000 | Largest in the Southern Hemisphere in the Late Quaternary | [29] | |
Palmas BRA-21—Wereldsend | 29.5 | Paraná and Etendeka traps | 1,900 | The nature of eruption is disputed. Paraná Province suggests an effusive origin from local sources.[6][7] | [4] | |
Kilgore tuff | 4.3 | Near Kilgore, Idaho | 1,800 | Last of the eruptions from the Heise volcanic field | [30] | |
McMullen Supereruption | 8.99 | Located in southern Idaho | 1,700 | One of 2 previously unknown Yellowstone hotspot eruptions. | [24] | |
Sana'a Ignimbrite—Tephra 2W63 | 29.5 | Afro-Arabian | 1,600 | [4] | ||
Millbrig eruptions—Bentonites | 454 | England, exposed in Northern Europe and Eastern US | 1,509[n 4] | One of the oldest large eruptions preserved | [5][31][32] | |
Blacktail tuff | 6.5 | Blacktail, Idaho | 1,500 | First of several eruptions from the Heise volcanic field | [30] | |
Mangakino Caldera—Rocky Hill | 1 | Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand | 1,495 | [26] | ||
Emory Caldera—Kneeling Nun tuff | 33 | Southwestern New Mexico | 1,310 | [33] | ||
Omine-Odai Caldera—Murou pyroclastic flow | 13.7 | Honshū, Japan | 1,260 | A part of the large eruptions that occurred in southwest Japan to 13 to 15 Ma. | [34] | |
Timber Mountain tuff | 11.6 | Southwestern Nevada | 1,200 | Also includes a 900 cubic km tuff as a second member in the tuff | [35] | |
Paintbrush tuff (Tonopah Spring Member) | 12.8 | Southwestern Nevada | 1,200 | Related to a 1000 cubic km tuff (Tiva Canyon Member) as another member in the Paintbrush tuff | [35] | |
Bachelor—Carpenter Ridge tuff | 28 | San Juan volcanic field | 1,200 | Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma | [20] | |
Bursum—Apache Springs Tuff | 28.5 | Southern New Mexico | 1,200 | Related to a 1050 cubic km tuff, the Bloodgood Canyon tuff | [36] | |
Taupo Volcano—Oruanui eruption | 0.027 | Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand | 1,170 | Most recent VEI 8 eruption | [37] | |
Mangakino Caldera—Ongatiti–Mangatewaiiti | 1.21 | Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand | 1,150 | [26] | ||
Huaylillas Ignimbrite | 15 | Bolivia | 1,100 | Predates half of the uplift of the central Andes | [38] | |
Bursum—Bloodgood Canyon tuff | 28.5 | Southern New Mexico | 1,050 | Related to a 1200 cubic km tuff, the Apache Springs tuff | [36] | |
Okueyama Caldera | 13.7 | Kyūshū, Japan | 1,030 | A part of the large eruptions that occurred in southwest Japan to 13 to 15 Ma. | [34] | |
Yellowstone Caldera—Lava Creek Tuff | 0.639 | Yellowstone hotspot | 1,000 | Last large eruption in the Yellowstone National Park area | [39] [9] [10] | |
Awasa Caldera | 1.09 | Main Ethiopian Rift | 1,000 | [40] | ||
Cerro Galán | 2.2 | Catamarca Province, Argentina | 1,000 | Elliptical caldera is ~35 km wide | [41] | |
Paintbrush tuff (Tiva Canyon Member) | 12.7 | Southwestern Nevada | 1,000 | Related to a 1200 cubic km tuff (Topopah Spring Member) as another member in the Paintbrush tuff | [35] | |
San Juan—Sapinero Mesa Tuff | 28 | San Juan volcanic field | 1,000 | Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma | [20] | |
Uncompahgre—Dillon & Sapinero Mesa Tuffs | 28.1 | San Juan volcanic field | 1,000 | Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma | [20] | |
Platoro—Chiquito Peak tuff | 28.2 | San Juan volcanic field | 1,000 | Part of at least 20 large caldera-forming eruptions in the San Juan volcanic field and surrounding area that formed around 26 to 35 Ma | [20] | |
Mount Princeton—Wall Mountain tuff | 35.3 | Thirtynine Mile volcanic area, Colorado | 1,000 | Helped cause the exceptional preservation at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument |
Effusive eruptions involve a relatively gentle, steady outpouring of lava rather than large explosions. They can continue for years or decades, producing extensive fluid mafic lava flows.[43] For example, Kīlauea on Hawaiʻi continuously erupted from 1983 to 2018, producing 2.7 km3 (1 cu mi) of lava covering more than 100 km2 (40 sq mi).[44] Despite their ostensibly benign appearance, effusive eruptions are no less dangerous than explosive ones: one of the largest effusive eruptions in history occurred in Iceland during the 1783–1784 eruption of Laki, which produced about 15 km3 (4 cu mi) of lava and killed one fifth of Iceland's population.[43] The ensuing disruptions to the climate may also have killed millions elsewhere.[45] Still larger were the Icelandic eruptions of Katla (the Eldgjá eruption) circa 934, with 18 km3 (4 cu mi) of erupted lava, and the Þjórsárhraun eruption of Bárðarbunga circa 6700 BC, with 25 km3 (6 cu mi) lava erupted, the latter being the largest effusive eruption in the last 10,000 years.[46] The lava fields of these eruptions measure 565 km2 (Laki), 700 km2 (Eldgjá) and 950 km2 (Þjórsárhraun).
Eruption | Age (Millions of years) | Location | Volume (km3) |
Notes | Refs |
Mahabaleshwar–Rajahmundry Traps (Upper) | 64.8 | Deccan Traps, India | 9,300 | [4] | |
Wapshilla Ridge flows | ~15.5 | Columbia River Basalt Group, United States | 5,000–10,000 | Member comprises 8–10 flows with a total volume of ~50,000 km3 | [47] |
McCoy Canyon flow | 15.6 | Columbia River Basalt Group, United States | 4,300 | [47] | |
Umtanum flows | ~15.6 | Columbia River Basalt Group, United States | 2,750 | Two flows with a total volume of 5,500 km3 | [4] |
Sand Hollow flow | 15.3 | Columbia River Basalt Group, United States | 2,660 | [4] | |
Pruitt Draw flow | 16.5 | Columbia River Basalt Group, United States | 2,350 | [47] | |
Museum flow | 15.6 | Columbia River Basalt Group, United States | 2,350 | [47] | |
Moonaree Dacite | 1591 | Gawler Range Volcanics, Australia | 2,050 | One of the oldest large eruptions preserved | [4] |
Rosalia flow | 14.5 | Columbia River Basalt Group, United States | 1,900 | [4] | |
Gran Canaria shield basalt eruption | 14.5 to 14 | Gran Canaria, Spain | 1,000 | [48] p. 17 | |
Joseph Creek flow | 16.5 | Columbia River Basalt Group, United States | 1,850 | [47] | |
Ginkgo Basalt | 15.3 | Columbia River Basalt Group, United States | 1,600 | [4] | |
California Creek–Airway Heights flow | 15.6 | Columbia River Basalt Group, United States | 1,500 | [47] | |
Stember Creek flow | 15.6 | Columbia River Basalt Group, United States | 1,200 | [47] |
Large igneous provinces
Highly active periods of volcanism in what are called large igneous provinces have produced huge oceanic plateaus and flood basalts in the past. These can comprise hundreds of large eruptions, producing millions of cubic kilometers of lava in total. No large eruptions of flood basalts have occurred in human history, the most recent having occurred over 10 million years ago. They are often associated with breakup of supercontinents such as Pangea in the geologic record,[49] and may have contributed to a number of mass extinctions. Most large igneous provinces have either not been studied thoroughly enough to establish the size of their component eruptions, or are not preserved well enough to make this possible. Many of the eruptions listed above thus come from just two large igneous provinces: the Paraná and Etendeka traps and the Columbia River Basalt Group. The latter is the most recent large igneous province, and also one of the smallest.[45] A list of large igneous provinces follows to provide some indication of how many large eruptions may be missing from the lists given here.
Igneous province | Age (Millions of years) | Location | Volume (millions of km3) | Notes | Refs |
Ontong Java–Manihiki–Hikurangi Plateau | 121 | Southwest Pacific Ocean | 59–77[n 5] | Largest igneous body on Earth, later split into three widely separated oceanic plateaus, with a fourth component perhaps now accreted onto South America. Possibly linked to the Louisville hotspot. | [50][51][52] |
Kerguelen Plateau–Broken Ridge | 112 | South Indian Ocean, Kerguelen Islands | 17[n 5] | Linked to the Kerguelen hotspot. Volume includes Broken Ridge and the Southern and Central Kerguelen Plateau (produced 120–95 Ma), but not the Northern Kerguelen Plateau (produced after 40 Ma). | [53][54] |
North Atlantic Igneous Province | 55.5 | North Atlantic Ocean | 6.6[n 6] | Linked to the Iceland hotspot. | [5][55] |
Mid-Tertiary ignimbrite flare-up | 32.5 | Southwest United States: mainly in Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico | 5.5 | Mostly andesite to rhyolite explosive (.5 million km3) to effusive (5 million km3) eruptions, 25–40 Ma. Includes many volcanic centers, including the San Juan volcanic field. | [56] |
Caribbean large igneous province | 88 | Caribbean–Colombian oceanic plateau | 4 | Linked to the Galápagos hotspot. | [57] |
Siberian Traps | 249.4 | Siberia, Russia | 1–4 | A large outpouring of lava on land, believed to have caused the Permian–Triassic extinction event, the largest mass extinction ever. | [58] |
Karoo-Ferrar | 183 | Mainly Southern Africa and Antarctica. Also South America, India, Australia and New Zealand | 2.5 | Formed as Gondwana broke up | [59] |
Paraná and Etendeka traps | 133 | Brazil/Angola and Namibia | 2.3 | Linked to the Tristan hotspot | [60][61] |
Central Atlantic magmatic province | 200 | Laurasia continents | 2 | Believed to be the cause of the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event. Formed as Pangaea broke up | [62] |
Deccan Traps | 66 | Deccan Plateau, India | 1.5 | A large igneous province of west-central India, believed to have been one of the causes of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Linked to the Réunion hotspot. | [63][64] |
Emeishan Traps | 256.5 | Southwestern China | 1 | Along with Siberian Traps, may have contributed to the Permian–Triassic extinction event. | [65] |
Coppermine River Group | 1267 | Mackenzie Large Igneous Province/Canadian Shield | 0.65 | Consists of at least 150 individual flows. | [66] |
Ethiopia-Yemen Continental Flood Basalts | 28.5 | Ethiopia/Yemen/Afar, Arabian-Nubian Shield | 0.35 | Associated with silicic, explosive tuffs | [67][68] |
Columbia River Basalt Group | 16 | Pacific Northwest, United States | 0.18 | Well exposed by Missoula Floods in the Channeled Scablands. | [69] |
A supervolcano is a volcano that has had an eruption with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 8, the largest recorded value on the index. This means the volume of deposits for such an eruption is greater than 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles).[1]
Supervolcanoes occur when magma in the mantle rises into the crust but is unable to break through it and pressure builds in a large and growing magma pool until the crust is unable to contain the pressure. This can occur at hotspots (for example, Yellowstone Caldera) or at subduction zones (for example, Toba).[2][3]
Large-volume supervolcanic eruptions are also often associated with large igneous provinces, which can cover huge areas with lava and volcanic ash. These can cause long-lasting climate change (such as the triggering of a small ice age) and threaten species with extinction. The Oruanui eruption of New Zealand's Taupō Volcano (about 26,500 years ago)[4] was the world's most recent VEI-8 eruption.
The term "supervolcano" was first used in a volcanic context in 1949.[note 1]
Its origins lie in an early 20th-century scientific debate about the geological history and features of the Three Sisters volcanic region of Oregon in the United States. In 1925, Edwin T. Hodge suggested that a very large volcano, which he named Mount Multnomah, had existed in that region.[note 2] He believed that several peaks in the Three Sisters area were the remnants of Mount Multnomah after it had been largely destroyed by violent volcanic explosions, similar to Mount Mazama.[5] In 1948, the possible existence of Mount Multnomah was ignored by volcanologist Howel Williams in his book The Ancient Volcanoes of Oregon. This book was reviewed in 1949 by another volcanologist, F. M. Byers Jr.[6] In the review, Byers refers to Mount Multnomah as a supervolcano.[7]
More than fifty years after Byers' review was published, the term supervolcano was popularised by the BBC popular science television program Horizon in 2000, referring to eruptions that produce extremely large amounts of ejecta.[8][9]
The term megacaldera is sometimes used for caldera supervolcanoes, such as the Blake River Megacaldera Complex in the Abitibi greenstone belt of Ontario and Quebec, Canada.
Eruptions that rate VEI 8 are termed "super eruptions".[10] Though there is no well-defined minimum explosive size for a "supervolcano", there are at least two types of volcanic eruptions that have been identified as supervolcanoes: large igneous provinces and massive eruptions.[11]
Large igneous provinces, such as Iceland, the Siberian Traps, Deccan Traps, and the Ontong Java Plateau, are extensive regions of basalts on a continental scale resulting from flood basalt eruptions. When created, these regions often occupy several thousand square kilometres and have volumes on the order of millions of cubic kilometers. In most cases, the lavas are normally laid down over several million years. They release large amounts of gases.
The Réunion hotspot produced the Deccan Traps about 66 million years ago, coincident with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. The scientific consensus is that a meteor impact was the cause of the extinction event, but the volcanic activity may have caused environmental stresses on extant species up to the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary.[12] Additionally, the largest flood basalt event (the Siberian Traps) occurred around 250 million years ago and was coincident with the largest mass extinction in history, the Permian–Triassic extinction event, although it is unknown whether it was solely responsible for the extinction event.
Such outpourings are not explosive, though lava fountains may occur. Many volcanologists consider Iceland to be a large igneous province that is currently being formed. The last major outpouring occurred in 1783–84 from the Laki fissure, which is approximately 40 km (25 mi) long. An estimated 14 km3 (3.4 cu mi) of basaltic lava was poured out during the eruption (VEI 4).
The Ontong Java Plateau has an area of about 2,000,000 km2 (770,000 sq mi), and the province was at least 50% larger before the Manihiki and Hikurangi Plateaus broke away.
Known super eruptions
Based on incomplete statistics, at least 60 VEI 8 eruptions have been identified.[11][13] Below is a list of well-known super-eruptions.
Name | Zone | Location | Notes | Years ago (approx.) | Ejecta bulk volume (approx.) | Reference |
Youngest Toba eruption | Toba Caldera, North Sumatra | Sumatra, Indonesia | Produced 2200–4400 million tons of H2SO4 | 75,000 | 2,000–13,200 km3 | [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] |
Flat Landing Brook Formation | Tetagouche Group | New Brunswick, Canada | Possibly the largest known supereruption. Existence as a single eruption is controversial, and it could have been a multiple 2,000+ km³ event that spanned less than a million years. | 466,000,000 | 2,000–12,000 km3 | [22][23] |
Wah Wah Springs | Indian Peak–Caliente Caldera Complex | Utah, United States | The largest of the Indian Peak-Caliente Caldera Complex eruptions, preserved as the Wah Wah Springs Tuff; includes pyroclastic flows more than 4,000 meters (13,000 ft) thick. | 30,600,000 | 5,500–5,900 km3 | [24][20] |
La Garita Caldera | San Juan volcanic field | Colorado, United States | Fish Canyon eruption | 27,800,000 | 5,000 km3 | [25][26] |
Grey's Landing Supereruption | Yellowstone hotspot | United States | Deposited the Grey's Landing Ignimbrite | 8,720,000 | 2,800 km3 | [27] |
La Pacana | Andes Central Volcanic Zone | Chile | Responsible for the Antana Ignimbrite | 4,000,000 | 2,500 km3 | [28] |
Huckleberry Ridge eruption | Yellowstone hotspot | Idaho, United States | Huckleberry Ridge Tuff; consisted of three distinct eruptions separated by years to decades | 2,100,000 | 2,450–2,500 km3 | [29][19] |
Taupō-nui-a-Tia | Taupō Volcanic Zone | North Island, New Zealand | Whakamaru Ignimbrite/Mount Curl Tephra | 340,000 | 2,000 km3 | [30] |
Heise Volcanic Field | Yellowstone hotspot | Idaho, United States | Kilgore Tuff | 4,500,000 | 1,800 km3 | [31] |
McMullen Supereruption | Yellowstone hotspot | Southern Idaho, United States | McMullen Ignimbrite | 8,990,000 | 1,700;km3 | [27] |
Heise Volcanic Field | Yellowstone hotspot | Idaho, United States | Blacktail Tuff | 6,000,000 | 1,500 km3 | [31] |
Cerro Guacha | Altiplano-Puna volcanic complex | Sur Lípez, Bolivia | Guacha ignimbrite, two smaller eruptions identified | 5,700,000 | 1,300 km3 | [32] |
Mangakino Caldera | Taupō Volcanic Zone | North Island, New Zealand | Kidnappers eruption | 1,080,000 | 1,200 km3 | [33] |
Oruanui eruption | Taupō Volcanic Zone | North Island, New Zealand | Taupō Volcano (Lake Taupō) | 26,500 | 1,170 km3 | [34] |
Cerro Galán | Andes Central Volcanic Zone | Catamarca, Argentina | Consisted of three distinct eruptions, separated by 30-40 thousand years | 2,500,000 | 1,050 km3 | [35] |
Lava Creek eruption | Yellowstone hotspot | Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, United States | Lava Creek Tuff; consisted of two distinct eruptions separated by years | 640,000 | 1,000 km3 | [29][19][20] |
Largest earthquakes by magnitude.
Listed below are all the 46 known earthquakes with an estimated magnitude of 8.5 or higher since 1501. Limited to a timeframe with enough data, this gives a rough estimate of its frequency per century. (The timeframe does not include outlying events like the earlier 1498 Meiō earthquake, 1420 Caldera earthquake, 1361 Shōhei earthquake, 1356 Lisbon earthquake, 869 Jōgan earthquake, and 365 Crete earthquake, each estimated to have magnitude ≥8.5.)
Prior to the development and deployment of seismographs – starting around 1900 – magnitudes can only be estimated, based on historical reports of the extent and severity of damage.[32]
Rank | Date | Location | Event | Magnitude |
1 | May 22, 1960 | Valdivia, Chile | 1960 Valdivia earthquake | 9.4–9.6 |
2 | June 11, 1585 | Pacific Ocean, Aleutian Islands (now Alaska, United States) | 1585 Aleutian Islands earthquake | 9.25 (est.) |
3 | July 8, 1730 | Valparaiso, Chile (then part of the Spanish Empire) | 1730 Valparaíso earthquake | 9.1–9.3 (est.)[33] |
4 | March 27, 1964 | Prince William Sound, Alaska, United States | 1964 Alaska earthquake | 9.2 |
5 | December 26, 2004 | Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia | 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake | 9.1–9.3 |
6 | October 17, 1737 | Kamchatka, Russia | 1737 Kamchatka earthquake | 9.0–9.3 (est.) |
7 | November 17, 1837 | Valdivia, Chile | 1837 Valdivia earthquake | 8.8–9.5 (est.)[34] |
8 | March 11, 2011 | Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan | 2011 Tōhoku earthquake | 9.1[35] |
9 | November 25, 1833 | Sumatra, Indonesia (then part of the Dutch East Indies) | 1833 Sumatra earthquake | 8.8–9.2 (est.) |
10 | May 17, 1841 | Kamchatka, Russian Empire | 1841 Kamchatka earthquake | 9.0 (est.) |
11 | November 4, 1952 | Kamchatka, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | 1952 Severo-Kurilsk earthquake | 9.0[36] |
12 | January 26, 1700 | Pacific Ocean, US and Canada (then claimed by the Spanish Empire and the British Empire) | 1700 Cascadia earthquake | 8.7–9.2 (est.) |
13 | August 13, 1868 | Arica, Chile (then Peru) | 1868 Arica earthquake | 8.5–9.3 (est.) |
14 | April 2, 1762 | Chittagong, Bangladesh (then Kingdom of Mrauk U) | 1762 Arakan earthquake | 8.8 (est.) |
15 | November 26, 1852 | Banda Islands, Indonesia (then part of the Dutch East Indies) | 1852 Banda Sea earthquake | 8.8 (est.)[37] |
16 | May 9, 1877 | Iquique, Chile (then Peru) | 1877 Iquique earthquake | 8.7–8.9 (est.) |
17 | January 31, 1906 | Ecuador – Colombia | 1906 Ecuador–Colombia earthquake | 8.8[38] |
18 | February 27, 2010 | Offshore Maule, Chile | 2010 Chile earthquake | 8.8[38] |
19 | December 16, 1575 | Valdivia, Chile (then part of the Spanish Empire) | 1575 Valdivia earthquake | 8.5–9.0 (est.) |
20 | November 1, 1755 | Atlantic Ocean, Lisbon, Portugal | 1755 Lisbon earthquake | 8.5–9.0 (est.) |
21 | October 20, 1687 | Lima, Peru (then part of the Spanish Empire) | 1687 Peru earthquake | 8.7 (est.) |
22 | October 28, 1707 | Pacific Ocean, Shikoku region, Japan | 1707 Hōei earthquake | 8.7 (est.) |
23 | October 28, 1746 | Lima, Peru (then part of the Spanish Empire) | 1746 Lima–Callao earthquake | 8.6–8.8 (est.) |
24 | February 4, 1965 | Rat Islands, Alaska, United States | 1965 Rat Islands earthquake | 8.7 |
25 | March 28, 1787 | Oaxaca, Mexico (then part of the Spanish Empire) | 1787 New Spain earthquake | 8.6 (est.) |
26 | February 2, 1816 | Atlantic Ocean, Lisbon, Portugal | 1816 North Atlantic earthquake | 8.6 (est.) |
27 | April 1, 1946 | Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA | 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake | 8.6 |
28 | August 15, 1950 | Assam, India – Tibet, China | 1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake | 8.6 |
29 | March 9, 1957 | Andreanof Islands, Alaska, United States | 1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake | 8.6[38] |
30 | March 28, 2005 | Sumatra, Indonesia | 2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake | 8.6[38] |
31 | April 11, 2012 | Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia | 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes | 8.6 |
32 | November 24, 1604 | Arica, Chile (then part of the Spanish Empire) | 1604 Arica earthquake | 8.5 (est.) |
33 | May 13, 1647 | Santiago, Chile (then part of the Spanish Empire) | 1647 Santiago earthquake | 8.5 (est.) |
34 | July 25, 1668 | Shandong, China | 1668 Shandong earthquake | 8.5 (est.)[39] |
35 | May 24, 1751 | Concepción, Chile (then part of the Spanish Empire) | 1751 Concepción earthquake | 8.5 (est.) |
36 | March 31, 1761 | Atlantic Ocean, Lisbon, Portugal | 1761 Lisbon earthquake | 8.5 (est.)[40] |
37 | April 4, 1819 | Copiapó, Chile | 1819 Copiapó earthquake | 8.5 (est.)[34] |
38 | November 19, 1822 | Valparaíso, Chile | 1822 Valparaíso earthquake | 8.5 (est.) |
39 | February 20, 1835 | Concepción, Chile | 1835 Concepción earthquake | 8.5 (est.) |
40 | February 8, 1843 | Guadeloupe region, Lesser Antilles | 1843 Guadeloupe earthquake | 8.5 (est.)[41] |
41 | February 16, 1861 | Sumatra, Indonesia | 1861 Sumatra earthquake | 8.5 (est.) |
42 | June 15, 1896 | Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan | 1896 Sanriku earthquake | 8.5 (est.) |
43 | June 17, 1917 | Samoa offshore | 1917 Samoa earthquake | 8.5 (est.)[42] |
44 | November 10, 1922 | Atacama Region, Chile Catamarca Province, Argentina | 1922 Vallenar earthquake | 8.5[43] |
45 | February 1, 1938 | Banda Sea, Indonesia (then part of the Dutch East Indies) | 1938 Banda Sea earthquake | 8.5[38] |
46 | October 13, 1963 | Kuril Islands, Russia (USSR) | 1963 Kuril Islands earthquake | 8.5[38] |
This is a list of megathrust earthquakes that have occurred. Megathrust earthquakes are large seismic events that take place along convergent plate boundaries, particularly at subduction zones. Examples of subduction zones include the Sumatra and Java trenches, Nankai Trough and Peru-Chile trench which are frequent sources of these earthquakes.
The inclusion criteria in this list is any notable subduction earthquake of at least magnitude 8.0.
Pre-11th century
Date | Time‡ | Location | Fatalities | Mag. | Effects/notes |
60 BC | Cabo de San Vicente, Portugal | 8.5 | Possible tsunami. Considered the oldest record of an earthquake in the Portuguese earthquake catalogs.[1] | ||
July 21, 365 AD | Crete, Greece see 365 Crete earthquake |
"thousands" | 8.6 | Devastation in Cyrene & Alexandria by a tsunami. Uplift of up to 9 metres in Crete. Maximum intensity XI (Extreme). | |
November 29, 684 AD | Nankai Trough, Japan see 684 Hakuhō earthquake |
8.4 | |||
July 13, 869 AD | Sanriku, Japan see 869 Sanriku earthquake |
1,000+ | 8.4–9.0 | Major tsunami. Several hundred villages destroyed. | |
August 26, 887 AD | Nankaido, Japan see Tōkai earthquakes |
"many" | 8.6 | Major tsunami recorded in Osaka Bay. Landslides reported. | |
December 11, 1096 AD | Nankaido, Japan see Tōkai earthquakes |
"many" | 8.4 | Destructive earthquake and tsunami, damaging many homes and shrines. | |
February 22, 1099 AD | Nankai Trough, Japan see Nankai earthquakes |
8.4 |
11th–18th century
Date | Time‡ | Location | Fatalities | Mag. | Effects/notes |
August 8, 1303 | "dawn" | Crete, Greece see 1303 Crete earthquake |
4,000+ | 8.0 | Maximum intensity IX (Violent). Tsunami damage in Alexandria, Egypt and along the Syrian coast. Many buildings damaged in Cairo due to the earthquake. |
July 26, 1361 | Tokai region, Japan see 1361 Shōhei earthquake |
8.5 | |||
September 1, 1420 | Omate, Peru see 1420 Caldera earthquake |
8.5–9.0 | |||
September 20, 1498 | 08:00 | Nankaido, Japan see 1498 Nankai earthquake |
26,000 | 8.6 | Major tsunami. |
June 6, 1505 | Nepal and India see 1505 Lo Mustang earthquake |
8.2–8.9[2] | At least 30% of the Nepalese population perished. Extreme damage in Nepal and northern India. | ||
December 16, 1575 | 18:30 | Valdivia, Chile see 1575 Valdivia earthquake |
1,500 | 8.5 | Maximum intensity X (Extreme). |
January 22, 1582 | 16:30 | Arequipa, Peru | "many" | 8.4 | Maximum intensity X (Extreme). Many buildings collapsed or were severely damaged. |
March 17, 1584 | Lima, Peru | 8.4 | Maximum intensity VII (Very strong). Severe damage in Lima. | ||
June 10–11, 1585 | 18:30 | Aleutian subduction zone, Alaska see 1585 Aleutian Islands earthquake |
Unknown | 9.25 | Tsunami killed natives in the Hawaiian Islands and reported in Japan. |
July 10, 1586 | 19:00 | Lima, Peru see 1586 Lima–Callao earthquake |
22 | 8.5 | Maximum intensity X (Extreme). 1,000 km by 120 km area of Peruvian coastline severely affected. A significant local tsunami was reported in Lima. The tsunami was confused with that of the Aleutian Islands event in tsunami catalogs. |
February 28, 1600 | 20:00 | Omate, Peru | 8.1 | ||
November 24, 1604 | 18:30 | Arica, Chile see 1604 Arica earthquake |
174 | 8.5–9.4 | |
February 3, 1605 | 20:00 | Japan see 1605 Nankai earthquake |
"thousands" | 8.0 | |
October 20, 1609 | 01:00 | Peru | 8.6 | ||
December 2, 1611 | Sanriku coast, Japan see 1611 Sanriku earthquake |
5,000 | 8.1 | ||
February 14, 1619 | 16:30 | Trujillo, Peru | 350 | 8.6 | |
August 1, 1629 | Banda Sea , Dutch East Indies (present-dayIndonesia) 1629 Banda Sea earthquake |
Unknown | 8.2–8.8 | Major tsunami. | |
May 14, 1647 | 02:30 | Santiago, Chile see 1647 Santiago earthquake |
1,000 | 8.5 | |
March 15, 1657 | 20:00 | Concepción, Chile see 1657 Concepción earthquake |
40 | 8.0 | Destructive tsunami. Concepción totally destroyed. |
October 20, 1687 | 10:30 | Lima, Peru see 1687 Peru earthquake |
5,000 | 8.7 | 8-meter tsunami in Peru. Tsunami reported in Japan. |
April 16, 1690 | Leeward Islands see 1690 Great Leeward Islands earthquake |
8.0 | Maximum intensity IX. | ||
January 27, 1700 | 05:00 | Cascadia subduction zone, United States and Canada see 1700 Cascadia earthquake |
9.0–9.2 | Tsunami in Japan and the Pacific Northwest. | |
December 30, 1703 | 17:00 | Boso Peninsula, Japan see 1703 Genroku earthquake |
5,233 | 8.0 | Maximum intensity IX. |
October 28, 1707 | 14:00 (local time) | Japan see 1707 Hōei earthquake |
5,000 | 8.7–9.3 | Tsunami |
May 4, 1714 | Main Himalayan Thrust, Bhutan see 1714 Bhutan earthquake |
Unknown | 7.5-8.5 | [3] | |
May 4, 1730 | Valparaíso, Chile see 1730 Valparaíso earthquake |
Unknown | 9.1–9.3 | 16-meter-high tsunami. | |
November 4, 1737 | 08:00 | Kamchatka, Russian Empire see 1737 Kamchatka earthquake |
9.0–9.3 | ||
December 24, 1737 | Valdivia, Chile see 1737 Valdivia earthquake |
8.0 | |||
October 29, 1746 | 03:30 | Lima, Peru see 1746 Lima–Callao earthquake |
1,141 | 8.6 | |
May 25, 1751 | 01:00 | Concepción, Chile see 1751 Concepción earthquake |
8.5 | ||
November 1, 1755 | 09:30 | Lisbon, Portugal see 1755 Lisbon earthquake |
50,000 | 8.7–9.0 | Tsunami. |
March 30, 1761 | 23:01 | Lisbon, Portugal see 1761 Lisbon earthquake |
Unknown | 8.0–8.5 | Tsunami. |
January 22, 1780 | Java, Indonesia | 8.5[4] | Severe damage | ||
April 3, 1787 | 23:01 | Oaxaca, New Spain (now Mexico) see 1787 New Spain earthquake |
11 | 8.6 | Tsunami. |
July & August, 1788 | Alaska Peninsula, Alaska, Russia (now United States) see 1788 Alaska earthquakes |
Unknown | 8.0 | Intensity VII. Major tsunami, 10 to 30 meters high. Many native Russians killed. The second earthquake triggered a 91-meter tsunami. Thought to be one earthquake rather than two.[5] | |
22 August 1792 | Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia | Unknown | 8.25 | [6] | |
10 February 1797 | Sumatra, Indonesia see 1797 Sumatra earthquake |
300 | 8.4 | [7] |
19th century
Date | Time‡ | Location | Fatalities | Mag. | Effects/notes |
4 April 1819 | Copiapó, Chile see 1819 Copiapó earthquake |
Unknown | 8.5 | Ms [8] Copiapó totally destroyed by the earthquake. Caldera suffered massive damage. Minor tsunami. | |
20 November 1822 | Valparaíso Region, Chile see 1822 Valparaíso earthquake |
72-300+ | 8.5 | Ms [8] | |
30 March 1828 | Sumatra, Indonesia see 1833 Sumatra earthquake |
Numerous | 8.8–9.2 | Destructive tsunami. | |
20 February 1835 | Concepción, Chile see 1835 Concepción earthquake |
50+ | 8.5 | Ms [8] Large tsunami. | |
20 February 1835 | Valdivia, Chile see 1837 Valdivia earthquake |
8.5 | Ms [8] | ||
11 January 1839 | Morning | Martinique, Lesser Antilles see 1839 Martinique earthquake |
390–4,000 | 8.0 | |
17 May 1841 | Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia see 1841 Kamchatka earthquake |
8.4 | 6-meter tsunami. | ||
8 February 1843 | 10:37 | Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles see 1843 Guadeloupe earthquake |
1,500–5,000 | 8.5 | |
7 April 1845 | 10:37 | Oaxaca & Guerrero, Mexico see 1845 Mexico City earthquake |
Unknown | 8.0 | Felt strongly in Mexico City, resulting in significant damage.[9] |
25 November 1852 | 22:40 | Banda Islands, Banda Sea, Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) see 1852 Banda Sea earthquake |
60+ | 8.4–8.8 | Tsunami up to 8 meters tall. Felt IX in Banda Neira. |
23 December 1854 | 16:00 | Nankai Trough, Japan see 1854 Nankai earthquake, 1854 Tōkai earthquake & Ansei great earthquakes |
5,000+ | 8.4 | Major damage caused by tsunami inundation. |
24 December 1854 | 09:00 | 8.4 | |||
16 February 1861 | Sumatra, Indonesia see 1861 Sumatra earthquake |
Thousands | 8.5 | ||
17 November 1865 | Pacific Ocean, Tonga | 0 | 8.0 | Felt in ships as well. Two-meter tsunami caused limited damage.[10] | |
13 August 1868 | Arica, Peru & Chile see 1868 Arica earthquake |
25,000 | 8.5-9.3 | ||
1873 | Papua New Guinea | "Some" | 8.0 | Felt IX. Some damage to villages and people killed. Minor tsunami. | |
28 March 1875 | Pacific Ocean, New Caledonia | 25+ | 8.1–8.2[11] | Four-meter tsunami caused at least 25 deaths. | |
9 May 1877 | 21:16 | Iquique, Chile see 1877 Iquique earthquake |
2,385 | 8.9 | Fiji accounts for most of the deaths attributed to the tsunami. |
7 September 1882 | 03:20 local time | Iquique, Panama see 1882 Panama earthquake |
250 | 8.3 | Destructive tsunami |
6 September 1889 | 12:00 | Celebes Sea, Indonesia | 8.0 | Damaging tsunami up to 4 meters in height. | |
15 June 1896 | 10:33 | Sanriku, Japan see 1896 Sanriku earthquake |
27,122 | 8.6 | Weakly felt earthquake but a major tsunami up to 38 meters in height. |
10 September 1899 | Yakutat Bay, Alaska see 1899 Yakutat Bay earthquakes |
0 | 8.2 & 8.2 | Large coastal uplift and tsunami. |
20th century
Date | Time‡ | Location | Fatalities | Mag. | Effects/notes |
22 September 1902 | 01:46 | Guam, United States | 0 | 8.1 | Felt IX. No tsunami. |
27 February 1903 | 01:46 | Java, Indonesia | 0 | 8.1 | |
31 January 1906 | 15:36 | Ecuador & Colombia see 1906 Ecuador–Colombia earthquake |
500–1,000 | 8.8 | [12] |
17 August 1906 | 00:40 | Valparaíso, Chile see 1906 Valparaíso earthquake |
4,000 | 8.2 | [13] |
14 September 1906 | 16:04 | Finisterre Range, Papua New Guinea | "Hundreds" | 8.0 | [14] Felt X. Many landslides and tsunamis triggered.[15] |
4 January 1907 | 12:20 local time | Nias Island, Indonesia see 1907 Sumatra earthquake |
2,188 | 8.2 | [16] Destructive tsunami, up to 15 meters high, killing most of the inhabitants. |
26 June 1917 | 05:49 local time | Pacific Ocean, Samoa see 1917 Samoa earthquake |
2 | 8.5 | Mw [17] 12.2-meter tsunami. |
15 August 1918 | 20:18 local time | Mindanao, Philippines see 1918 Celebes Sea earthquake |
52 | 8.3 | Mw [18] |
10 November 1922 | 23:53 local time | Atacama Region, Chile see 1922 Vallenar earthquake |
~500 | 8.5 | Mw [19][20] |
3 February 1923 | 04:01 local time | Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia see February 1923 Kamchatka earthquake |
3 | 8.4 | Ms [21] Felt XI. Tsunami. |
14 April 1923 | 02:31 local time | Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia see April 1923 Kamchatka earthquake |
36 | 8.2 | Mw [22] Felt X. Tsunami up to 30 meters. |
1 September 1923 | 11:58 local time | Kantō Plain, Japan see 1923 Great Kantō earthquake |
148,000 | 8.1 | Mw [23] Felt XI. A conflagaration and firenado killed tens of thousands in the Kantō Plain. Tsunami up to 12 meters caused extensive damage. One of the deadliest earthquakes in human history. |
14 April 1924 | 16:20 | Mindanao, Philippines | 0 | 8.0 | Mw [24] |
3 June 1932 | 04:36 | Jalisco, Mexico see 1932 Jalisco earthquakes |
400+ | 8.1 | Mw [25] Multiple mainshocks. |
15 January 1934 | 08:43 | Himalayas, Nepal & India see 1934 Nepal–India earthquake |
12,000 | 8.0 | Mw [26] Major damage in both countries. Widespread liquefaction. |
24 May 1940 | 11:35 | Lima, Peru see 1940 Lima earthquake |
300 | 8.2 | Mw [27] Majority of the deaths were from Callao and Lima. |
13 May 1942 | 21:13 local time | Manabí Province, Ecuador see 1942 Ecuador earthquake |
200+ | 8.3 | Ms [28] |
24 August 1942 | 17:40 local time | Lima, Peru see 1942 Peru earthquake |
30 | 8.1 | Mw [29] |
6 April 1943 | 12:07 local time | Coquimbo Region, Chile see 1943 Ovalle earthquake |
11 | 8.1 | Mw [30] |
7 December 1944 | 13:35 local time | Tōkai region, Japan see 1944 Tōnankai earthquake |
3,538 | 8.1 | Mw [31] |
28 November 1945 | 01:26 local time | Balochistan, British India (present–day Pakistan) see 1945 Balochistan earthquake |
4,000 | 8.0 | Mw [32] Tsunami. |
1 April 1946 | 03:29 local time | Aleutian Islands, Alaska see 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake |
173 | 8.6 | Mw [33] Majority of the deaths was the result of the tsunami hitting Hawaii. One tsunami fatality in California. |
21 December 1946 | 04:19 local time | Nankaidō, Japan see 1946 Nankai earthquake |
1,362+ | 8.3 | Mw [34] |
15 August 1950 | 19:39 local time | Mishmi Hills, India & Tibet see 1950 Assam-Tibet earthquake |
4,800 | 8.6 | Mw [35] One of the largest earthquake on land. |
4 March 1952 | 10:22 local time | Hokkaido, Japan see 1952 Tokachi earthquake |
33 | 8.1 | Mw [36] |
5 November 1952 | 03:58 local time | Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia see 1952 Severo-Kurilsk earthquake |
10,000–15,000 | 9.0 | Mw [37] 5th largest in recorded history. |
9 March 1957 | 04:22 local time | Andreanof Islands, Alaska see 1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake |
0 | 8.6 | Mw [38] |
21 May 1960 | 06:02 local time | Concepción, Chile see 1960 Concepción earthquakes |
125 | 8.1 | Mw [39] Foreshock to the next earthquake on 22 May. |
22 May 1960 | 15:11 local time | Valdivia, Chile see 1960 Valdivia earthquake |
1,000–7,000 | 9.5 | Mw [40] The largest earthquake in recorded history. |
13 October 1963 | 15:17 local time | Kuril Islands, USSR (present-day Russia) see 1963 Kuril Islands earthquake |
0 | 8.5 | Mw [41] One of the largest earthquake in recorded history. |
27 March 1964 | 17:36 local time | Prince William Sound, Alaska see 1964 Alaska earthquake |
131 | 9.2 | Mw [42] The second largest earthquake in recorded history. |
24 January 1965 | 09:11 local time | North Maluku, Indonesia see 1965 Ceram Sea earthquake |
71 | 8.2 | Mw [43] |
3 February 1965 | 19:01 local time | Rat Islands, Alaska see 1965 Rat Islands earthquake |
0 | 8.7 | Mw [44] One of the largest earthquake in recorded history. |
17 October 1966 | 16:42 local time | Huacho, Peru see 1966 Peru earthquake |
100 | 8.1 | Mw [45] |
16 May 1968 | 09:49 local time | Hokkaido, Japan see 1968 Tokachi earthquake |
47–57 | 8.2 | Mw [46] |
11 August 1969 | 21:27 local time | Kuril Islands, USSR | 0 | 8.2 | Mw [47] |
3 October 1974 | 09:21 local time | Lima, Peru see 1974 Lima earthquake |
78 | 8.1 | Mw [17] |
14 January 1976 | 16:47 | Kermadec Islands, New Zealand | 0 | 8.0 | Ms [48] |
16 August 1976 | 00:11 local time | Mindanao, Philippines see 1976 Moro Gulf earthquake |
5,000–7,000 | 8.0 | Mw [17] |
12 December 1977 | 02:59 local time | Ecuador–Colombia see 1979 Tumaco earthquake |
300–600 | 8.2 | Mw [49] |
3 March 1985 | 19:47 local time | Valparaíso Region, Chile see 1985 Algarrobo earthquake |
177 | 8.0 | Mw [50] |
19 September 1985 | 07:17 local time | Michoacan, Mexico see 1985 Mexico City earthquake |
9,500–45,000 | 8.0 | Mw [51] |
30 July 1995 | 14:59 local time | Antofagasta, Chile see 1995 Antofagasta earthquake |
2 | 8.0 | Mw [52] |
9 October 1995 | 10:35 local time | Antofagasta, Chile see 1995 Colima–Jalisco earthquake |
49–58 | 8.0 | Mw [53] |
17 February 1996 | 14:59 local time | Irian Jaya, Indonesia see 1996 Biak earthquake |
166 | 8.1 | Mw [54] |
21st century
Date | Time‡ | Location | Fatalities | Mag. | Effects/notes |
23 June 2001 | 15:33 local time | Department of Arequipa, Peru see 2001 southern Peru earthquake |
74 | 8.4 | Mw [55] |
26 September 2003 | 04:50 local time | Hokkaido, Japan see 2003 Tokachi earthquake |
0 | 8.2 | Mw [56] Two missing, more than 840 injured. |
26 December 2004 | 07:58 local time | Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia see 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami |
227,898 | 9.1 | Mw [57] Indian Ocean basin-wide by teletsunami. |
28 March 2005 | 23:09 local time | Nias & Simeulue, North Sumatra, Indonesia see 2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake |
915–1,314 | 8.6 | Mw [58] |
15 November 2006 | 08:14 local time | Kuril Islands, Russia see 2006 Kuril Islands earthquake |
0 | 8.3 | Mw [59] |
2 April 2007 | 07:39 local time | Solomon Islands see 2007 Solomon Islands earthquake |
52 | 8.1 | Mw [60] At least 60 missing. |
15 August 2007 | 18:40 local time | Department of Ica & Department of Ica, Peru see 2007 Peru earthquake |
519 | 8.0 | Mw [61] |
12 September 2007 | 18:10 local time | Bengkulu, Indonesia see September 2007 Sumatra earthquakes |
23 | 8.4 | Mw [62] |
29 September 2009 | 06:48 local time | near Samoa and American Samoa, Pacific Ocean see 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami |
192 | 8.1 | Mw [63] Doublet earthquake rupturing an outer rise normal fault and the megathrust.[64] |
27 February 2010 | 03:34 local time | Maule Region, Chile see 2010 Chile earthquake |
525 | 8.8 | Mw [65] |
11 March 2011 | 14:46 local time | Tohoku region, Japan see 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami |
16,000–20,000 | 9.1 | Mw [66] More than 2,550 missing. One death each in Papua, Indonesia and California by tsunami. |
6 February 2013 | 12:12 local time | Temotu Province, Solomon Islands see 2013 Solomon Islands earthquake |
9 | 8.0 | Mw [67] |
1 April 2014 | 20:46 local time | Iquique, Chile see 2014 Iquique earthquake |
6 | 8.2 | Mw [68] |
16 September 2015 | 19:54 local time | Coquimbo Region, Chile see 2015 Illapel earthquake |
16 | 8.3 | Mw [69] At least 6 missing in Chile. |
4 March 2021 | 08:28 local time | Kermadec Islands, New Zealand see 2021 Kermadec Islands earthquakes |
0 | 8.1 | Mw [70] Was preceded by an Mw 7.4 foreshock and unrelated Mw 7.3 event a few hours earlier. |
29 July 2021 | 22:15 local time | Alaska, United States see 2021 Chignik earthquake |
0 | 8.2 | Mw [71] Was preceded by two foreshocks – Mw 7.8 and 7.6. |
12 August 2021 | 16:35 local time | South Sandwich Islands see 2021 South Sandwich Islands earthquakes |
0 | 8.1 | Mw [72] Was preceded by an Mw 7.5 foreshock that occurred three minutes earlier. |
A tsunami (/(t)suːˈnɑːmi, (t)sʊˈ-/ (t)soo-NAH-mee, (t)suu-;[1][2][3][4] from Japanese: 津波, lit. 'harbour wave',[5] pronounced [t͡sɨᵝna̠mʲi]) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions (including detonations, landslides, glacier calvings, meteorite impacts and other disturbances) above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami.[6] Unlike normal ocean waves, which are generated by wind, or tides, which are generated by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun, a tsunami is generated by the displacement of water by a large event.
Tsunami waves do not resemble normal undersea currents or sea waves because their wavelength is far longer.[7] Rather than appearing as a breaking wave, a tsunami may instead initially resemble a rapidly rising tide.[8] For this reason, it is often referred to as a tidal wave,[9] although this usage is not favoured by the scientific community because it might give the false impression of a causal relationship between tides and tsunamis.[10] Tsunamis generally consist of a series of waves, with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in a so-called "wave train".[11] Wave heights of tens of metres can be generated by large events. Although the impact of tsunamis is limited to coastal areas, their destructive power can be enormous, and they can affect entire ocean basins. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was among the deadliest natural disasters in human history, with at least 230,000 people killed or missing in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.
The Ancient Greek historian Thucydides suggested in his 5th century BC History of the Peloponnesian War that tsunamis were related to submarine earthquakes,[12][13] but the understanding of tsunamis remained slim until the 20th century, and much remains unknown. Major areas of current research include determining why some large earthquakes do not generate tsunamis while other smaller ones do. This ongoing research is designed to help accurately forecast the passage of tsunamis across oceans as well as how tsunami waves interact with shorelines.
The term "tsunami" is a borrowing from the Japanese tsunami 津波, meaning "harbour wave." For the plural, one can either follow ordinary English practice and add an s, or use an invariable plural as in the Japanese.[14] Some English speakers alter the word's initial /ts/ to an /s/ by dropping the "t," since English does not natively permit /ts/ at the beginning of words, though the original Japanese pronunciation is /ts/.
Tsunamis are sometimes referred to as tidal waves.[15] This once-popular term derives from the most common appearance of a tsunami, which is that of an extraordinarily high tidal bore. Tsunamis and tides both produce waves of water that move inland, but in the case of a tsunami, the inland movement of water may be much greater, giving the impression of an incredibly high and forceful tide. In recent years, the term "tidal wave" has fallen out of favour, especially in the scientific community, because the causes of tsunamis have nothing to do with those of tides, which are produced by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun rather than the displacement of water. Although the meanings of "tidal" include "resembling"[16] or "having the form or character of"[17] tides, use of the term tidal wave is discouraged by geologists and oceanographers.
Seismic sea wave
The term seismic sea wave is also used to refer to the phenomenon because the waves most often are generated by seismic activity such as earthquakes.[19] Prior to the rise of the use of the term tsunami in English, scientists generally encouraged the use of the term seismic sea wave rather than tidal wave. However, like tsunami, seismic sea wave is not a completely accurate term, as forces other than earthquakes—including underwater landslides, volcanic eruptions, underwater explosions, land or ice slumping into the ocean, meteorite impacts, and the weather when the atmospheric pressure changes very rapidly—can generate such waves by displacing water.[20][21].
While Japan may have the longest recorded history of tsunamis, the sheer destruction caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami event mark it as the most devastating of its kind in modern times, killing around 230,000 people.[22] The Sumatran region is also accustomed to tsunamis, with earthquakes of varying magnitudes regularly occurring off the coast of the island.[23]
Tsunamis are an often underestimated hazard in the Mediterranean Sea and parts of Europe. Of historical and current (with regard to risk assumptions) importance are the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami (which was caused by the Azores–Gibraltar Transform Fault), the 1783 Calabrian earthquakes, each causing several tens of thousands of deaths and the 1908 Messina earthquake and tsunami. The tsunami claimed more than 123,000 lives in Sicily and Calabria and is among the most deadly natural disasters in modern Europe. The Storegga Slide in the Norwegian Sea and some examples of tsunamis affecting the British Isles refer to landslide and meteotsunamis predominantly and less to earthquake-induced waves.
As early as 426 BC the Greek historian Thucydides inquired in his book History of the Peloponnesian War about the causes of tsunami, and was the first to argue that ocean earthquakes must be the cause.[12][13] The oldest human record of a tsunami dates back to 479 BC, in the Greek colony of Potidaea, thought to be triggered by an earthquake. The tsunami may have saved the colony from an invasion by the Achaemenid Empire.[13]
The cause, in my opinion, of this phenomenon must be sought in the earthquake. At the point where its shock has been the most violent the sea is driven back, and suddenly recoiling with redoubled force, causes the inundation. Without an earthquake I do not see how such an accident could happen.[24]
The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (Res Gestae 26.10.15–19) described the typical sequence of a tsunami, including an incipient earthquake, the sudden retreat of the sea and a following gigantic wave, after the 365 AD tsunami devastated Alexandria.[25][26].
The principal generation mechanism of a tsunami is the displacement of a substantial volume of water or perturbation of the sea.[27] This displacement of water is usually caused by earthquakes,[28][29][30] but can also be attributed to landslides, volcanic eruptions, glacier calvings or more rarely by meteorites and nuclear tests.[31][32] However, the possibility of a meteorite causing a tsunami is debated.[33]
Tsunamis can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water. Tectonic earthquakes are a particular kind of earthquake that are associated with the Earth's crustal deformation; when these earthquakes occur beneath the sea, the water above the deformed area is displaced from its equilibrium position.[34] More specifically, a tsunami can be generated when thrust faults associated with convergent or destructive plate boundaries move abruptly, resulting in water displacement, owing to the vertical component of movement involved. Movement on normal (extensional) faults can also cause displacement of the seabed, but only the largest of such events (typically related to flexure in the outer trench swell) cause enough displacement to give rise to a significant tsunami, such as the 1977 Sumba and 1933 Sanriku events.[35][36].
Tsunamis have a small wave height offshore, and a very long wavelength (often hundreds of kilometres long, whereas normal ocean waves have a wavelength of only 30 or 40 metres),[37] which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a slight swell usually about 300 millimetres (12 in) above the normal sea surface. They grow in height when they reach shallower water, in a wave shoaling process described below. A tsunami can occur in any tidal state and even at low tide can still inundate coastal areas.
On April 1, 1946, the 8.6 Mw Aleutian Islands earthquake occurred with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong). It generated a tsunami which inundated Hilo on the island of Hawaii with a 14-metre high (46 ft) surge. Between 165 and 173 were killed. The area where the earthquake occurred is where the Pacific Ocean floor is subducting (or being pushed downwards) under Alaska.
Examples of tsunamis originating at locations away from convergent boundaries include Storegga about 8,000 years ago, Grand Banks in 1929, and Papua New Guinea in 1998 (Tappin, 2001). The Grand Banks and Papua New Guinea tsunamis came from earthquakes which destabilised sediments, causing them to flow into the ocean and generate a tsunami. They dissipated before travelling transoceanic distances.
The cause of the Storegga sediment failure is unknown. Possibilities include an overloading of the sediments, an earthquake or a release of gas hydrates (methane etc.).
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake (Mw 9.5), 1964 Alaska earthquake (Mw 9.2), 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (Mw 9.2), and 2011 Tōhoku earthquake (Mw9.0) are recent examples of powerful megathrust earthquakes that generated tsunamis (known as teletsunamis) that can cross entire oceans. Smaller (Mw 4.2) earthquakes in Japan can trigger tsunamis (called local and regional tsunamis) that can devastate stretches of coastline, but can do so in only a few minutes at a time..
Volcanic eruptions
Other than by landslides or flank collapse, volcanoes may be able to generate waves by pyroclastic flow submergence, caldera collapse, or underwater explosions.[45] Tsunamis have been triggered by a number of volcanic eruptions, including the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, and the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption. Over 20% of all fatalities caused by volcanism during the past 250 years are estimated to have been caused by volcanogenic tsunamis.[46]
Debate has persisted over the origins and source mechanisms of these types of tsunamis, such as those generated by Krakatoa in 1883,[46] and they remain lesser understood than their seismic relatives. This poses a large problem of awareness and preparedness, as exemplified by the eruption and collapse of Anak Krakatoa in 2018, which killed 426 and injured thousands when no warning was available.
It is still regarded that lateral landslides and ocean-entering pyroclastic currents are most likely to generate the largest and most hazardous waves from volcanism;[47] however, field investigation of the Tongan event, as well as developments in numerical modelling methods, currently aim to expand the understanding of the other source mechanisms.[48][49].
Date | Location | Main Article | Primary Cause | Description |
≈1.4 Ma | Molokai, Hawaii | East Molokai Volcano | Landslide | A third of the East Molokai Volcano collapsed into the Pacific Ocean, generating a tsunami with an estimated local height of 2,000 feet (610 m). The wave traveled as far as California and Mexico.[4][5][6] |
≈9.91–9.29 ka | Dor, Israel | Unknown | A mega-tsunami had a run-up of at least 16 metres (52 ft) and traveled between 3.5 and 1.5 km inland from the ancient Eastern Mediterranean coastline.[7] | |
≈7000–6000 BC | Lisbon, Portugal | Unknown | A series of giant boulders and cobbles have been found 14 m above mean sea level near Guincho Beach.[8] | |
≈6225–6170 BC | Norwegian Sea | Storegga Slide | Landslide | The Storegga Slide(s), 100 km north-west of the Møre coast in the Norwegian Sea, caused a large tsunami in the North Atlantic Ocean. The collapse involved ~290 km of coastal shelf, and a total volume of 3,500 km3 of debris.[9] Based on carbon dating of plant material from sediment deposited by the tsunami, the latest incident occurred around 6225–6170 BC.[10][11] In Scotland, traces of the tsunami have been found in sediment from Montrose Basin, the Firth of Forth, up to 80 km inland and 4 metres above current normal tide levels. |
5,500 BP | Northern Isles | Garth tsunami | Unknown | The tsunami may be responsible for contemporaneous mass burials.[12] |
≈1600 BC | Santorini, Greece | Minoan eruption | Volcanic eruption | The volcanic eruption on Santorini, Greece is assumed to have caused severe damage to cities around it, most notably the Minoan civilization on Crete. A tsunami is assumed to be the factor that caused the most damage. |
Before 1001 CE
Date | Location | Main Article | Primary Cause | Description |
479 BC | Potidaea, Greece | 479 BC Potidaea earthquake | The earliest recorded tsunami in history.[2] During the Persian siege of the sea town Potidaea, Greece, Herodotus reports how Persian attackers who tried to exploit an unusual retreat of the water were suddenly surprised by "a great flood-tide, higher, as the people of the place say, than any one of the many that had been before". Herodotus attributes the cause of the sudden flood to the wrath of Poseidon.[13] | |
426 BC | Malian Gulf, Greece | 426 BC Malian Gulf tsunami | In the summer of 426 BC, a tsunami hit the gulf between the northwest tip of Euboea and Lamia.[14] The Greek historian Thucydides (3.89.1–6) described how the tsunami and a series of earthquakes affected the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) and, for the first time, associated earthquakes with waves in terms of cause and effect.[15] | |
373 BC | Helike, Greece | Earthquake | An earthquake and a tsunami destroyed the prosperous Greek city of Helike, 2 km from the sea. The fate of the city, which remained permanently submerged, was often commented upon by ancient writers[16] and may have inspired the contemporary Plato to create the myth of Atlantis. | |
60 BC | Portugal and Galicia | Earthquake | An earthquake of intensity IX and an estimated magnitude of 6.7 caused a tsunami along the coasts of Portugal and Galicia.[17] Little more is known due to the scarcity of records from the Roman possession of the Iberian Peninsula. | |
79 CE | Gulf of Naples, Italy | Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD | Volcanic eruption | A smaller tsunami was witnessed in the Bay of Naples by Pliny the Younger during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.[18] |
115 CE | Caesarea, Israel | Earthquake (?) | Underwater geoarchaeological excavations on the shallow shelf (∼10 m depth) at Caesarea, Israel, documented a tsunami that struck the ancient harbor. Talmudic sources record a tsunami on 13 December 115, impacting Caesarea and Yavne. The tsunami was probably triggered by an earthquake that destroyed Antioch, and was generated somewhere on the Cyprian Arc fault system.[19] | |
262 CE | Southwest Anatolia (Turkey) | 262 Southwest Anatolia earthquake | Earthquake | Many cities were flooded by the sea, with the cities of Roman Asia reporting the worst tsunami damage. In many places, fissures appeared in the earth and filled with water; in others, towns were overwhelmed by the sea.[20][21][22] |
365 CE | Alexandria, Southern and Eastern Mediterranean | 365 Crete earthquake | Earthquake | On the morning of 21 July 365, an earthquake caused a tsunami more than 100 feet (30 m) high, devastating Alexandria and the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean, killing many thousands, and hurling ships nearly two miles inland.[23][24] This tsunami also devastated many large cities in what is now Libya and Tunisia. The anniversary of the disaster was still commemorated annually at the end of the 6th century in Alexandria as a "day of horror."[25]Researchers at the University of Cambridge recently carbon dated corals on the coast of Crete which were lifted 10 metres and clear of the water during the earthquake, indicating the tsunami was generated by an earthquake in a steep fault in the Hellenic Trench. Scientists estimate that such an uplift is only likely to occur once in 5,000 years; however, the other segments of the fault could slip on a similar scale every 800 years or so.[26] |
551 CE | Lebanese Coast | 551 Beirut earthquake | Earthquake | The 9 July 551 CE earthquake was one of the largest seismic events in and around Lebanon during the Byzantine period. The earthquake was associated with a tsunami along the Lebanese coast and a local landslide near Al-Batron. A large fire in Beirut also continued for almost two months.[27] |
684 CE | Nankai, Japan | 684 Hakuhō earthquake, Nankai earthquake | Earthquake | The first recorded tsunami in Japan, it hit on 29 November 684 on the shore of the Kii, Shikoku, and Awaji region. The earthquake, estimated at magnitude 8.4,[17] was followed by a huge tsunami, but no estimates exist for the number of deaths.[28] From that time forward, the Japanese would keep meticulous records of tsunamis.[citation needed] |
869 CE | Sanriku, Japan | 869 Jōgan earthquake | Earthquake | The Sanriku region was struck by a major tsunami that caused flooding extending 4 km inland from the coast. The town of Tagajō was destroyed, with an estimated 1,000 casualties. |
887 CE | Nankai, Japan | 887 Ninna Nankai earthquake | Earthquake | There was a strong shock in the Kyoto region, causing great destruction. A tsunami flooded the coastal region, and some people died. The coast of Settsu Province (Osaka Prefecture) suffered especially heavily, and the tsunami was also observed on the coast of the Sea of Hyūga (Miyazaki Prefecture).[17] |
Date | Location | Main Article | Primary Cause | Description |
1169 | Sicily, Italy | 1169 Sicily earthquake | Earthquake | The tsunami affected most of the Ionian coast of Sicily[29] |
1202 | Eastern Mediterranean | 1202 Syria earthquake | Earthquake | Tsunami probably associated with this event were observed on eastern Cyprus and along the Syrian and Lebanese coasts.[30][31] |
1293 | Kamakura, Japan | 1293 Kamakura earthquake | Earthquake | A magnitude 7.1 quake and tsunami hit Kamakura, then Japan's de facto capital, killing 23,000 after resulting fires. |
1303 | Eastern Mediterranean | 1303 Crete earthquake | Earthquake | A team from Southern Cross University in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia, found evidence of five tsunamis that hit Greece over the past 2000 years. "Most were small and local, but in 1303 a larger one hit Crete, Rhodes, Alexandria and Acre in Israel."[32] |
1343 | Gulf of Naples, Italy | 1343 Naples tsunami | Landslide (possibly volcanic) | A 2019 study attributes the event to a massive submarine landslide caused by flank collapse of the Stromboli volcano.[33] |
1361 | Nankai, Japan | 1361 Shōhei earthquake | Earthquake | On 3 August 1361, during the Shōhei era, an 8.4 quake hit Nankaidō, followed by a tsunami. A total of 660 deaths were reported. The earthquake shook Awa, Settsu, Kii, Yamato and Awaji Provinces (Tokushima, Osaka, Wakayama and Nara Prefectures and Awaji Island). A tsunami struck Awa and Tosa Provinces (Tokushima and Kōchi Prefectures), in Kii Strait and in Osaka Bay. The Hot spring of Yunomine, Kii (Tanabe, Wakayama) stopped. The port of Yuki, Awa (Minami, Tokushima) was destroyed, and more than 1,700 houses were washed away. |
1420 | Caldera, Chile | 1420 Caldera earthquake | Earthquake | On 1 September 1420, an enormous earthquake shook what is now Chile's Atacama Region. Landslides occurred along the coast and tsunamis affected not only Chile but also Hawaii and Japan.[34][35] |
1498 | Nankai, Japan | 1498 Meiō earthquake | Earthquake | On 20 September 1498, during the Meiō era, a 7.5 earthquake hit. The ports in Kii Province (Wakayama Prefecture) were damaged by a tsunami several meters high. 30–40 thousand deaths estimated.[17][36] The building around the great Buddha of Kamakura (altitude 7m) was swept away by the tsunami.[37] |
1531 | Lisbon, Portugal | 1531 Lisbon earthquake | Earthquake | The earthquake of 26 January was accompanied by a tsunami in the Tagus River that destroyed ships in Lisbon harbour |
1541 | Nueva Cadiz, Venezuela | Earthquake | In 1528, Cristóbal Guerra founded Nueva Cádiz on the island of Cubagua, the first Spanish settlement in Venezuela. Nueva Cádiz, with a population of 1000–1500, may have been destroyed in an earthquake followed by tsunami in 1541—it also could have been a major hurricane.[38] The ruins were declared a National Monument of Venezuela in 1979. | |
1585 | Aleutian Islands, Alaska | 1585 Aleutian Islands earthquake | Earthquake | On 11 June 1585, a moderate tsunami struck the Sanriku coast of Japan. At the same time, a number of Hawaiian natives died after their settlements was struck by a tsunami-like event described in oral traditions. Paleotsunami evidence was also found in the Hawaiian Islands corresponding to a large tsunami in the 16th century. Modelling of a magnitude 9.25 earthquake in the Aleutian Islands matched the descriptions and geological evidences in Japan and Hawaii.[39] |
1605 | Nankai, Japan | 1605 Nankai earthquake | Earthquake | On 3 February 1605, in the Keichō era, a magnitude 8.1 quake and tsunami hit Japan. A tsunami with a maximum known height of 30 m was observed from the Bōsō Peninsula to the eastern part of Kyushu Island. The eastern part of the Bōsō Peninsula, Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay), Sagami and Tōtōmi Provinces (Kanagawa and Shizuoka Prefectures), and the southeastern coast of Tosa Province (Kōchi Prefecture) suffered particularly heavily.[17] 700 houses (41%) in Hiro, Kii (Hirogawa, Wakayama) were washed away, and 3,600 people drowned in the area of Shishikui, Awa (Kaiyō, Tokushima). Wave heights reached 5–6 meters at Kannoura, Tosa (Tōyō, Kōchi) and 8–10 m at Sakihama, Tosa (Muroto, Kōchi). 350 drowned at Kannoura and 60 at Sakihama. In total more than 5,000 drowned. |
1674 | Banda Sea, Indonesia | 1674 Ambon earthquake and megatsunami | Earthquake | On 17 February 1674, an earthquake triggers a landslide, generating waves of up to 100 meters along the coast of Ambon Island, killing over 2,000. |
1677 | Bōsō Peninsula, Japan | 1677 Bōsō earthquake | Earthquake | On 4 November 1677, an earthquake was felt with low intensity in the area around the Bōsō Peninsula, but was followed a major tsunami, killing an estimate 569 people.[40] |
1693 | Sicily | 1693 Sicily earthquake | Earthquake | A large foreshock on 9 January was followed on 11 January by the most powerful earthquake in Italian history. The ensuing tsunami devastated the Ionian Sea coast and the Straits of Messina. It remains unclear whether the tsunami was directly caused by the earthquake or by a large underwater landslide triggered by the event. |
Date | Location | Main Article | Primary Cause | Description |
1700 | Pacific Northwest, U.S. and Canada | 1700 Cascadia earthquake | Earthquake | On 26 January 1700, the Cascadia earthquake, estimated Mw 9, ruptured the Cascadia subduction zone (C SZ) from Vancouver Island to California, and caused a massive tsunami recorded in Japan and by the oral traditions of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest. The wave caught the Japanese off-guard, not knowing its origin, and was explained in the book, The Orphan Tsunami.[41] |
1707 | Nankai, Japan | 1707 Hōei earthquake | Earthquake | On 28 October 1707, during the Hōei era, a magnitude 8.4 earthquake and tsunami up to 10 meters (33 feet) in height[42] struck Tosa Province (Kōchi Prefecture). More than 29,000 houses were destroyed, causing ~30,000 deaths. In Tosa, 11,170 houses were washed away, and 18,441 people drowned. About 700 drowned and 603 houses were washed away in Osaka. Hot springs at Yunomine, Kii (Tanabe, Wakayama), Sanji (?), Ryujin, Kii (Tanabe, Wakayama) Kanayana (Shirahama, Wakayama) and Dōgo, Iyo (Matsuyama, Ehime) stopped flowing.[17] |
1731 | Storfjorden, Norway | Storfjorden | Landslide | On 8 January 1731, a landslide into the Storfjorden opposite Stranda triggered a tsunami up to 100 metres (328 ft) in height that killed 17 people.[43] |
1741 | Western Oshima, Japan | 1741 eruption of Oshima–Ōshima and the Kampo tsunami | Volcano | On 29 August 1741, the western side of Oshima Peninsula, Ezo (Hokkaido) was hit by a tsunami caused by eruption of the volcano on Ōshima island. The tsunami itself is thought to have resulted from a landslide, partly submarine, triggered by the eruption.[44] 1,467 people were killed on Ezo.[45] |
1743 | Apulia, Italy | 1743 Salento earthquake | Earthquake | On 20 February 1743, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in the Strait of Otranto triggers a tsunami up to 11 meters high.[46] Between 180 and 300 people were killed.[47] |
1755 | Lisbon, Portugal | 1755 Lisbon earthquake | Earthquake | Tens of thousands of Portuguese people who survived the Great Lisbon earthquake on 1 November 1755 were killed by a tsunami 40 minutes later. Many fled to the waterfront, an area safe from fires and debris during aftershocks. These people observed the sea receding, revealing a sea floor littered with lost cargo and shipwrecks. The tsunami then struck with a maximum height of 15 metres (49 ft), traveling far inland.The earthquake, tsunami, and fires killed 40,000 to 50,000 people.[48] Historical records of early navigators such as Vasco da Gama were lost, and among the buildings destroyed were most examples of Portugal's Manueline architecture. Europeans of the 18th century struggled to understand the disaster within religious and rational belief systems, and philosophers of the Enlightenment, notably Voltaire, wrote about the event. The philosophical concept of the sublime, as described by Immanuel Kant took inspiration from attempts to comprehend the enormity of the Lisbon quake and tsunami.
The tsunami took just over 4 hours to travel over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) to Cornwall in the United Kingdom. An account by Arnold Boscowitz claimed "great loss of life." It also hit Galway, Ireland, and caused serious damage to the Spanish Arch section of the city wall. |
1756 | Langfjorden, Norway | Langfjorden | Landslide | On 22 February 1756, a landslide into the Langfjorden generated three megatsunamis in the Langfjorden and the Eresfjorden with heights of 40 to 50 metres (131 to 164 ft). The waves killed 32 people and destroyed 168 buildings, 196 boats, large amounts of forest, and roads and boat landings.[49] |
1761 | Lisbon, Portugal | 1761 Lisbon earthquake | Earthquake | Six years after the 1755 earthquake, another event with an estimates magnitude of 8.5 struck off the Iberian Peninsula. It generated a tsunami up to 2.4 meters at Lisbon. At Cornwall, the tsunami reached over a meter in height. Details of this earthquake is largely unknown, censored by the Portuguese government to prevent panic. |
1762 | Rahkine, Burma | 1762 Arakan earthquake | Earthquake | On 2 April, the west coast of Myanmar (Burma) and Chittagong was struck by an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8.8, unleashing a tsunami in the Bay of Bengal and killing over 200 people.[50] |
1771 | Yaeyama Islands, Ryūkyū | 1771 Great Yaeyama Tsunami | Earthquake | An undersea earthquake of magnitude ~7.4 occurred near Yaeyama Islands in the former Ryūkyū Kingdom (present day Okinawa, Japan) on 4 April 1771 at about 8 A.M. The earthquake is not believed to have directly caused any deaths, but a resulting tsunami killed an estimated 12,000 people[51]). Run-up estimates on Ishigaki Island range from 30 to 85.4 meters (99 to 280 feet). The tsunami was followed by malaria epidemics and crop failures. It took 148 years for the population to return to pre-tsunami levels. |
1781 | Pingtung, Taiwan | In April or May 1781, according to Records of Taiwan County, in Jiadong, Pingtung County, a ten-foot wave engulfed the town. Fish and shrimp thrashed wildly on the shore and nearby fishing villages were wiped out. However, no earthquake was reported.[52] A different source claims a 30-meter (99-foot) wave with also struck Tainan.[53] One possibility is a misrecording of date, corresponding with the above Great Yaeyama event. | ||
1783 | Calabria, Italy | 1783 Calabrian earthquakes | Earthquake | The earthquake was the second of a sequence of five shocks that struck Calabria. The citizens of Scilla spent the night following the first earthquake on the beach, where they were swept away by the tsunami, causing 1,500 deaths. The tsunami was caused by the collapse of Monte Paci into the sea, near the town. Estimated deaths from earthquake and tsunami is 32,000–50,000. |
1792 | Kyūshū, Japan | 1792 Unzen earthquake and tsunami | Volcanic processes | Tsunamis were the main cause of death for Japan's worst-ever volcanic disaster, an eruption of Mount Unzen, Hizen Province (Nagasaki Prefecture), Kyushu, Japan. Toward the end of 1791 a series of earthquakes on the west flank of Mount Unzen moved towards Fugen-dake, one of Mount Unzen's peaks. In February 1792, Fugen-dake erupted, initiating two-months of lava flows. Earthquakes continued, shifting nearer to the city of Shimabara. On the night of 21 May, two large earthquakes preceded a collapse of the east flank of Mount Unzen's Mayuyama dome. An avalanche swept through Shimabara and into Ariake Bay, triggering a tsunami. The tsunami struck Higo Province (Kumamoto Prefecture) across Ariake Bay before bouncing back. Out of an estimated 15,000 fatalities, ~5,000 are thought to have been killed by the landslide, ~5,000 by the tsunami in Higo Province, and ~5,000 by the tsunami returning to Shimabara. The waves reached a height of 330 ft (100 m), making this a small megatsunami. |
1797 | Sumatra, Indonesia | 1797 Sumatra earthquake | Earthquake | On 10 February 1797, a massive earthquake estimated to have been approximately 8.4 on the moment magnitude scale, struck Sumatra in Indonesia. Many fatalities resulted although it is not known how many. |
Date | Location | Main Article | Primary Cause | Description |
1806 | Goldau, Switzerland | 1806 Goldau landslide | Landslide | A landslide of 120,000,000 tonnes of rock, much of which displaced water from Lake Lauerz causing a tsunami that flooded lake side villages and resulted in the confirmed death of 457 people. |
1812 | Santa Barbara channel, Alta California | 1812 Ventura earthquake | Earthquake or landslide | A magnitude 7.1 to 7.5 earthquake triggered a 3.4-meter (eyewitness reported more than 15 meters) tsunami in the Lompoc area, washing away homes and missions in the area. It dumped a ship inland before taking it back to sea. Its source might be due to faulting or a landslide. |
1815 | Tambora, Indonesia | 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora | Volcanic Eruption | an VEI 7 Eruption caused a localized Tsunami. 4 metres Tsunami in Sanggar, 1–2 metres in Besuki, Java Island and 2 metres in Molucca Islands. |
1819 | Gujarat, India | 1819 Rann of Kutch earthquake | Earthquake | A local tsunami flooded the Great Rann of Kutch |
1833 | Sumatra, Dutch East-Indies | 1833 Sumatra earthquake | Earthquake | On 25 November 1833, an earthquake with estimated moment magnitude between 8.8 and 9.2, struck Sumatra in the Dutch East-Indies. The coast of Sumatra near the quake's epicentre was hardest hit by the resulting tsunami. |
1853–1854 | Lituya Bay, Alaska | Landslide | Sometime between August 1853 and May 1854, a very large tsunami traveled down the bay. The wave had a maximum run-up height of 120 metres (394 ft), flooding the coast of the bay up to 750 feet (229 m) inland.[54] | |
1854 | Nankai, Tōkai, and Kyushu, Japan | Ansei great earthquakes | Earthquake | The Ansei quake which hit the south coast of Japan, was actually a set of three earthquakes over the course of several days.
The total result was 80,000–100,000 deaths.[57] |
1855 | Edo, Japan | 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake | Earthquake | The following year, the 1855 Great Ansei Edo earthquake hit the Edo (Tokyo) region of Japan, killing 4,500 to 10,000 people. Popular stories of the time blamed the quakes and tsunamis on giant catfish called Namazu thrashing about. The Japanese era name was changed to bring good luck after four disastrous quakes/tsunamis in two years. |
1867 | Virgin Islands | 1867 Virgin Islands earthquake and tsunami | Earthquake | On 18 November 1867, a large doublet earthquake occurred in the Virgin Islands archipelago. The shock probably occurred between the islands of Saint Thomas and Saint Croix. The highest runup of 7.6 m (25 ft) was observed at Frederiksted on Saint Croix, and came within minutes of the shocks.[58] |
1867 | Keelung, Taiwan | Earthquake | 18 December 1867, a large quake hit Keelung, Taiwan, causing crustal deformation of the mountains and opening of fissures. The water drained out of Keelung harbor so that the sea bed was revealed, then returned in a huge wave. Boats were washed into the city center. In many locations, the ground and the mountains split open and water poured from the fissures. Hundreds of deaths resulted.[52][53] | |
1868 | Hawaiian Islands | 1868 Hawaii earthquake | Earthquake | On 2 April 1868, a local earthquake of estimated magnitude 7.5–8.0 rocked the southeast coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. It triggered a landslide on the slopes of Mauna Loa volcano, five miles (8 km) north of Pahala, killing 31 people. A tsunami then claimed 46 additional lives. The villages of Punaluu, Ninole, Kawaa, Honuapo, and Keauhou Landing were severely damaged and the village of Apua was destroyed. According to one account, the tsunami "rolled in over the tops of the coconut trees, probably 60 feet high …. inland a distance of a quarter of a mile in some places, taking out to sea when it returned, houses, men, women, and almost everything movable." This was reported in the 1988 edition of Walter C. Dudley's book "Tsunami!" (ISBN 0-8248-1125-9). |
1868 | Arica, Peru (now part of Chile) | 1868 Arica earthquake | Earthquake | On 16 August 1868, an earthquake with a magnitude estimated at 8.5 struck the Peru–Chile Trench. A resulting tsunami struck the port of Arica, then part of Peru, killing an estimated 25,000 in Arica and 70,000 in all. Three military vessels anchored at Arica, the US warship USS Wateree and the storeship Fredonia, and the Peruvian warship America, were swept up by the tsunami.[59] |
ca. 1874 | Lituya Bay, Alaska | Landslide | Sometime around 1874, perhaps in May 1874, a megatsunami occurred in Lituya Bay. It had a maximum run-up height of 80 feet (24 m), flooding the coast of the bay up to 2,100 feet (640 m) inland.[60] | |
1877 | Iquique, Chile | 1877 Iquique earthquake | Earthquake | On 9 May 1877, an earthquake with a magnitude estimated at 8.5 occurred off the coast of what is now Chile, causing a tsunami that killed about 2541 people. This event followed the destructive earthquake and tsunami at Arica by just nine years.[61] |
1881 | Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands | 1881 Nicobar Islands earthquake | Earthquake | The tsunami triggered by this earthquake was recorded on all the coasts of the Bay of Bengal by tide gauges. This information has been used to estimate the rupture area and magnitude of the earthquake. |
1883 | Krakatoa, Sunda Strait, Netherlands East Indies | 1883 eruption of Krakatoa | Volcanic eruption | The island volcano of Krakatoa in the Dutch East-Indies (present-day Indonesia) exploded on 26–27 August 1883, blowing its underground magma chamber partly empty such that much overlying land and seabed collapsed into it. The collapse generated a series of large tsunami waves, some higher than 40 meters above sea level. Tsunami waves were observed throughout the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and as far away as the American West Coast, and South America. On the facing coasts of Java and Sumatra the sea flood went many miles inland and caused such loss of life[62] that one area was never resettled, reverting to jungle and is now the Ujung Kulon nature reserve. |
1888 | Ritter Island, Netherlands East Indies | 1888 Ritter Island eruption and tsunami | Volcanic eruption | On 13 March 1888, a significant portion of Ritter Island collapsed into the sea, generating tsunamis of up to 12 to 15 metres (39 to 49 ft) in height that struck nearby islands and traveled as far south as New Guinea, where they were 8 metres (26 ft) high. The waves killed around 3,000 people.[63][64] [65][66][67] |
1896 | Sanriku, Japan | 1896 Sanriku earthquake | Earthquake | On 15 June 1896, at around 19:36 local time, a large undersea earthquake off the Sanriku coast of northeastern Honshu, Japan, triggered tsunami waves which struck the coast about half an hour later. Although the earthquake itself is not thought to have resulted in fatalities, the waves, which reached a height of 100 feet (30 m), killed approximately 27,000 people. In 2005, the same general area was hit by the 2005 Sanriku Japan earthquake, but with no major tsunami. |
Date | Location | Main Article | Primary Cause | Description |
1905 | Loenvatnet, Norway | Rockfall | On 15 January 1905, a rockfall hit the lake Loenvatnet in Sogn og Fjordane, creating a 40 m (130 ft) flood wave that destroyed the villages of Ytre Nesdal and Bødal, killing 61 people.[68] The slide, which started 500 metres up the mountainside of Mount Ramnefjell, carried an approximate mass of 870,000 metric tons when it entered the lake.[69] | |
1905 | Disenchantment Bay, Alaska | Glacier collapse | On 4 July 1905, a tsunami in Disenchantment Bay in Alaska broke tree branches 110 feet (34 m) above ground level 0.5 miles (0.8 km) away from its origin, killed vegetation to a height of 65 feet (20 m) at a distance of 3 miles (5 km) away, and reached heights of from 50 to 115 feet (15 to 35 m) at various locations on the coast of Haenke Island. At a distance of 15 miles (24 km), observers at Russell Fjord reported a series of large waves that caused the water level to rise and fall 15 to 20 feet (5 to 6 m) for a half-hour.[70] | |
1906 | Tumaco-Esmeraldas, Colombia-Ecuador | 1906 Ecuador–Colombia earthquake | Earthquake | The earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed 500 people in Tumaco and Esmeraldas and struck Colombia, Ecuador, California, Hawaii, and Japan. Waves were 5 meters high. |
1907 | Simeulue, Nias off Sumatra | 1907 Sumatra earthquake | Earthquake | On 4 January 1907 a tsunami earthquake that triggered a transoceanic tsunami, which caused 2,188 deaths on Simeulue and Nias[71] |
1908 | Messina, Italy | 1908 Messina earthquake | Earthquake-triggered underwater landslide |
The earthquake combined with the tsunami took about 123,000 lives.[72] |
1918 | Puerto Rico | 1918 San Fermín earthquake | Earthquake-triggered underwater landslide | A large tsunami (that may have been associated with a submarine landslide) affected northwest Puerto Rico.[73] |
1923 | Kantō, Japan | 1923 Great Kantō earthquake | Earthquake | The Great Kantō earthquake, which occurred in eastern Japan on 1 September 1923, and devastated Tokyo, Yokohama, and the surrounding areas, caused tsunamis which struck the Shōnan coast, Bōsō Peninsula, Izu Islands and the east coast of Izu Peninsula, within minutes in some cases. In Atami, waves reaching 12 meters were recorded. Examples of tsunami damage include about 100 people killed along Yuigahama beach in Kamakura and an estimated 50 people on the Enoshima causeway. However, tsunamis only accounted for a small proportion of the final death toll of over 100,000, most of whom were killed in fire. |
1929 | Newfoundland | 1929 Grand Banks earthquake | Earthquake | On 18 November 1929, an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 occurred beneath the Laurentian Slope on the Grand Banks. The quake was felt throughout the Atlantic Provinces of Canada and as far away as Ottawa and Claymont, Delaware. The resulting tsunami measured over 7 meters in height and took about 21/2 hours to reach the Burin Peninsula on the south coast of Newfoundland, where 28 people lost their lives in various communities. It also snapped telegraph cables laid under the Atlantic.[74] |
1930 | Gulf of Martaban, Burma (Myanmar) | 1930 Bago earthquake | Earthquake | On 5 May 1930, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake along the Sagaing Fault triggered a 1.06-meter high tsunami that inundated the southern coast of Myanmar.[75] It traveled up rivers, destroying ports and anchored ships. The earthquake killed over 500 people in Bago, Yangon, and many other towns. |
1932 | Mexico | 1932 Jalisco earthquakes | Earthquake | Three very large-to-great shocks off the coast of Jalisco in June 1932 each generated tsunamis. The last and smallest event in the series occurred updip relative to the mainshock and generated the largest tsunami.[76] |
1933 | Sanriku, Japan | 1933 Sanriku earthquake | Earthquake | On 3 March 1933, the Sanriku coast of northeastern Honshu, Japan, which suffered a devastating tsunami in 1896 (see above), was again struck by tsunami waves resulting from an offshore magnitude 8.1 earthquake. The quake destroyed ~5,000 homes and killed 3,068 people, the vast majority as a result of tsunami waves. Especially hard hit was the coastal village of Tarō (now part of Miyako city) in Iwate Prefecture, which lost 42% of its total population and 98% of its buildings. Tarō is now protected by a tsunami wall, currently 10 meters in height and over 2 kilometers long.[77] |
1934 | Tafjorden, Norway | Tafjorden | Rockslide | On 7 April 1934, a rockslide of about 2,000,000 cubic metres (2,600,000 cu yd) of rock fell off the mountain Langhamaren from a height of about 700 metres (2,300 ft). The rock landed in the Tafjorden which created a local tsunami which killed 40 people[78] living on the shore of the fjord. The waves reached a height of 62 metres (203 ft) near the landslide, about 7 metres (23 ft) at Sylte, and about 16 metres (52 ft) at Tafjord. It was one of the worst natural disasters in Norway in the 20th century.[79] |
1936 | Loenvatnet, Norway | Rockfall | On 13 September, approximately one million cubic metres of mountainside dislodged from the Mt. Ramnefjell at a height of 800 metres[69] and landed in lake Loenvatnet in Sogn og Fjordane, creating a 70 m (230 ft) flood wave that destroyed several farms, killing 74 people. The second such incident in 31 years, the disaster caused the permanent depopulation of the area.[80] | |
1936 | Lituya Bay, Alaska | Unknown | On 27 October, a megatsunami occurred in Lituya Bay in Alaska with a maximum run-up height of 490 feet (149 m) in Crillon Inlet at the head of the bay. The four eyewitnesses to the wave in Lituya Bay itself all survived and described it as between 100 and 250 feet (30 and 76 m) high as it traveled down the bay. The maximum inundation distance was 2,000 feet (610 m) inland along the north shore of the bay. The cause of the megatsunami remains unclear, but may have been a submarine landslide.[81] | |
1944 | Tōnankai, Japan | 1944 Tōnankai earthquake | Earthquake | A magnitude 8.0 earthquake on 7 December 1944, about 20 km off the Shima Peninsula in Japan, which struck the Pacific coast of central Japan, mainly Mie, Aichi, and Shizuoka Prefectures. News of the event was downplayed by the authorities in order to protect wartime morale, and as a result the full extent of the damage is not known, but the quake is estimated to have killed 1223 people, the tsunami being the leading cause of the fatalities. |
1945 | Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean | 1945 Balochistan earthquake | Earthquake | The earthquake with moment magnitude of 8.1 and a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale, occurred in British India at 5:26 PST on 28 November 1945. It resulted from a fault rupture near the Makran Trench. The resulting tsunami caused damage along the Makran coastal region affecting Pakistan, Iran, Oman and India.[82][83] |
1946 | Nankai, Japan | 1946 Nankai earthquake | Earthquake | The Nankai earthquake on 21 December 1946 had a magnitude of 8.4 and occurred at 04:19 (local time) to the southwest of Japan in the Nankai Trough. This event was one of the Nankai megathrust earthquakes, periodic earthquakes observed off the southern coast of Kii Peninsula and Shikoku, Japan every 100 to 150 years. The subsequent tsunami washed away 1451 houses and caused 1500 deaths in Japan, and was observed on tide gauges in California, Hawaii, and Peru.[17] Particularly hard hit were the coastal towns of Kushimoto and Kainan on the Kii Peninsula. The quake led to more than 1400 deaths, tsunami being the leading cause. |
1946 | Aleutian Islands | 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake | Earthquake |
On 1 April 1946, the Aleutian Islands tsunami killed 159 people on Hawaii and five in Alaska (the lighthouse keepers at the Scotch Cap Light in the Aleutians). The wave reached Kauai, Hawaii 4.5 hours after the quake, and Hilo, Hawaii 4.9 hours later. The residents of these islands were caught completely off-guard by the onset of the tsunami due to the inability to transmit any warnings from the destroyed posts at Scotch Cap Light on Unimak Island in Alaska. The tsunami is known as the April Fools Day Tsunami in Hawaii because it happened on 1 April and many people thought it to be an April Fool's Day prank. It resulted in the creation of a tsunami warning system known as the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), established in 1949 for Oceania countries. |
Date | Location | Main Article | Primary Cause | Description |
1952 | Severo-Kurilsk, Kuril Islands, USSR | 1952 Severo-Kurilsk earthquake | Earthquake | On 4 November 1952 a tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, killed 2,336 on the Kuril Islands, USSR. |
1956 | Amorgos, Greece | 1956 Amorgos earthquake | Earthquake | Fifty-three deaths occurred during the largest 20th-century earthquake in Greece. Santorini was damaged, and a localised tsunami affected the Cyclades and Dodecanese island groups. Maximum runup of 30 m (98 ft)) was observed on the southern coast of Amorgos.[84] |
1958 | Lituya Bay, Alaska, U.S. | 1958 Lituya Bay, Alaska earthquake and megatsunami | Earthquake-triggered landslide | On the night of 9 July 1958, an earthquake on the Fairweather Fault in Alaska loosened ~40 million cubic yards (30 million cubic meters) of rock 3000 feet (900 meters) above the northeastern shore of Lituya Bay. The impact in the waters of Gilbert Inlet generated a local tsunami that crashed against the southwest shoreline and swept over the spur separating Gilbert Inlet from the main Lituya Bay. The wave continued down Lituya Bay, over La Chaussee Spit and into the Gulf of Alaska. The force of the wave removed all trees and vegetation from as high as 1720 feet (524 meters) above sea level. This is the highest wave ever recorded. The scale of this wave was so much greater than ordinary tsunamis, it eventually led to the new category of megatsunamis. |
1960 | Valdivia, Chile, and Pacific Ocean | 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean earthquake | Earthquake | The magnitude-9.5 earthquake of 22 May 1960, the largest earthquake ever recorded, generated one of the most destructive tsunamis of the 20th century. The tsunami spread across the Pacific Ocean, with waves measuring up to 25 meters (82 feet) high in places. The first tsunami wave struck at Hilo, Hawaii, approximately 14.8 hrs after it originated. The highest wave at Hilo Bay was measured at ~10.7 m (35 ft). 61 lives were lost, allegedly due to people's failure to heed warning sirens. Almost 22 hours after the quake, waves up to 3 m above high tide hit the Sanriku coast of Japan, killing 142 people. Up to 6,000 people died in total worldwide due to the earthquake and tsunami.[85] |
1963 | Vajont Dam, Monte Toc, Italy | Vajont Dam | Landslide |
The Vajont Dam was completed in 1961 under Monte Toc, 100 km north of Venice, Italy. At 262 metres (860 feet), it was one of the highest dams in the world. On 9 October 1963 a landslide of about 260 million cubic meters of forest, earth, and rock, fell into the reservoir at up to 110 km per hour (68 mph). The resulting displacement of water caused 50 million cubic metres of water to overtop the dam in a 250-metre (820-foot) high megatsunami wave. The flooding destroyed the villages of Longarone, Pirago, Rivalta, Villanova and Faè, killing 1,450 people. Nearly 2,000 people perished in total. |
1964 | Niigata, Japan | 1964 Niigata earthquake | Earthquake | 28 people died, and entire apartment buildings were destroyed by liquefaction of the ground. The subsequent tsunami destroyed the port of Niigata. |
1964 | Alaska, U.S. and Pacific Ocean | 1964 Alaska earthquake | Earthquake | After the magnitude 9.2 Good Friday earthquake of 27 March 1964, tsunamis struck Alaska, British Columbia, California, and coastal Pacific Northwest towns, killing 121 people. The waves were up to 100 feet (30 m) tall, and killed 11 people as far away as Crescent City, California. |
1965 | Shemya Island, Alaska | 1965 Rat Islands earthquake | Earthquake | The 4 February 1965, Rat Islands earthquake generated a 10.7-metre (35 ft) tsunami on Shemya Island.[86] |
1969 | Portugal, Morocco | 1969 Portugal earthquake | Earthquake | A large undersea earthquake off the coast of Portugal generated a tsunami that affected both Portugal and Morocco.[87] |
1976 | Moro Gulf, Mindanao, Philippines | 1976 Moro Gulf earthquake | Earthquake | On 16 August 1976 at 12:11 A.M., magnitude 7.9 earthquake hit the island of Mindanao, Philippines. The resultant tsunami devastated more than 700 km of coastline bordering Moro Gulf in the North Celebes Sea. Estimated casualties included 5,000 dead, 2,200 missing, 9,500 injured, and 93,500 people left homeless. Affected cities include Cotabato, Pagadian, and Zamboanga, and the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, and Zamboanga del Sur. |
1979 | Tumaco, Colombia | 1979 Tumaco earthquake | Earthquake | A magnitude 8.1 earthquake occurred on 12 December 1979 at 7:59:4.3 UTC along the Pacific coast of Colombia and Ecuador. The earthquake and resulting tsunami destroyed at least six fishing villages and killed hundreds of people in the Colombian Department of Nariño. The earthquake was felt in Bogotá, Cali, Popayán, Buenaventura, Guayaquil, Esmeraldas, and Quito. The tsunami caused huge destruction in the city of Tumaco, as well as in the towns of El Charco, San Juan, Mosquera, and Salahonda on the Pacific coast of Colombia. Casualties included 259 dead, 798 wounded and 95 missing or presumed dead. |
1980 | Spirit Lake, Washington, U.S. | Spirit Lake (Washington), 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, Mount St. Helens | Volcanic eruption | On 18 May 1980, in the course of a major eruption of Mount St. Helens, the upper 460 m (1400 ft) of the mountain failed, causing a major landslide. One lobe of the landslide surged onto the nearby Spirit Lake, creating a megatsunami 260 meters (853 feet) high.[88] |
1983 | Sea of Japan | 1983 Sea of Japan earthquake | Earthquake | On 26 May 1983 at 11:59:57 local time, a magnitude-7.7 earthquake occurred in the Sea of Japan, about 100 km west of the coast of Noshiro in Akita Prefecture. Out of 107 fatalities, all but four were killed by the resulting tsunami, which struck communities along the coast, especially Aomori and Akita Prefectures and the Noto Peninsula. Footage of the tsunami hitting the fishing harbor of Wajima on Noto Peninsula was broadcast on TV. Waves exceeded 10 meters in some areas. Three of the fatalities were along the east coast of South Korea (whether North Korea was affected is not known). The tsunami also hit Okushiri Island. |
1992 | Nicaragua | 1992 Nicaragua earthquake | Earthquake | A 7.2+ quake hit offshore in Nicaragua, sending a devastating tsunami into the Rivas department coast, killing some 116 people. The wave magnitude, 9.9 meters high, was unusually large given the size of the earthquake. |
1992 | Indonesia | 1992 Flores earthquake and tsunami | Earthquake | A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Flores, Indonesia, on 12 December 1992. The earthquake produced a devastating 25 meter-high tsunami that struck the island and ran inland as far as 300 meters shortly after the quake. Approximately 2,500 people were killed or missing, including 1,490 at Maumere and 700 on Babi. More than 500 people were injured and 90,000 were left homeless. Damage was assessed at exceeding US$100 million. |
1993 | Okushiri, Hokkaido, Japan | 1993 Hokkaido earthquake | Earthquake | A devastating tsunami wave struck Hokkaido in Japan as a result of a magnitude 7.8 offshore earthquake 80 miles (130 km) on 12 July 1993. Within minutes, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning that was broadcast on NHK in English and Japanese (archived at NHK library). However, at Okushiri, a small island near the epicenter, some waves reaching 30 meters struck within two to five minutes of the quake. Despite being surrounded by tsunami barriers, Aonae, a village on a low-lying peninsula, was struck over the following hour by 13 waves over two meters high arriving from multiple directions, including waves that bounced back off Hokkaido. Of 250 people killed as a result of the quake, 197 were victims of the tsunami that hit Okushiri; the waves also caused deaths on Hokkaido. While many residents, remembering the 1983 tsunami (see above), survived by evacuating on foot, many others underestimated how soon the waves would arrive (the 1983 tsunami took 17 minutes to hit Okushiri) and were killed as they attempted to evacuate by car. The highest wave of the tsunami was 31 meters (102 ft) high. |
1994 | Java earthquake | 1994 Java earthquake | Earthquake | Two hundred and fifty killed as a M7.8 earthquake and tsunami affected east Java and Bali on 3 June 1994. |
1998 | Papua New Guinea | 1998 Papua New Guinea earthquake | Earthquake | On 17 July 1998, a Papua New Guinea tsunami killed approximately 2,200 people.[89] A 7.1-magnitude earthquake 24 km offshore was followed within 11 minutes by a tsunami about 15 metres tall. The tsunami was generated by an undersea landslide, which was triggered by the earthquake. The villages of Arop and Warapu were destroyed. |
1999 | Sea of Marmara | 1999 İzmit earthquake | Earthquake | The earthquake triggered a tsunami in the Sea of Marmara, with a maximum water height of 2.52 m. 150 people were killed when the town of Degirmendere was flooded and a further five were swept into the sea at Ulaşlı.[90][91] |
Date | Location | Main Article | Primary Cause | Description |
2004 | Indian Ocean | 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami | Earthquake |
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (moment magnitude 9.1–9.3)[17] triggered a series of tsunamis on 26 December 2004 that devastated coastlines surrounding the Indian Ocean, killing approximately 227,898 people (167,540 in Indonesia alone), making it the deadliest tsunami and one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. The earthquake was the third largest earthquake in recorded history. The initial surge was measured at a height of approximately 33 meters (108 ft), making it one of the largest earthquake-generated tsunamis in recorded history. The tsunami killed people from the immediate vicinity of the quake in Indonesia, Thailand, and the north-west coast of Malaysia, to thousands of kilometres away in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and as far away as Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania. This trans-Indian Ocean tsunami is an example of a teletsunami, which travels vast distances across the open ocean, and an ocean-wide tsunami. It became known as the "Boxing Day Tsunami" because it struck on Boxing Day (26 December). Unlike in the Pacific Ocean, there was no organized alert service covering the Indian Ocean. This was in part due to the absence of major tsunami events since 1883 (the Krakatoa eruption, see above). In light of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, UNESCO and other world bodies have called for an international tsunami monitoring system. |
2006 | South of Java Island | 2006 Pangandaran earthquake and tsunami | Earthquake | A 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked the Indian Ocean seabed on 17 July 2006, 200 km south of Pangandaran, a beach famous to surfers for its perfect waves. This earthquake triggered tsunamis with heights that varied from 2 meters at Cilacap to 6 meters at Cimerak beach, where it swept away and flattened buildings as far as 400 metres away from the coastline. More than 800 people were reported missing or dead. |
2006 | Kuril Islands | 2006 Kuril Islands earthquake | Earthquake | On 15 November 2006, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake occurred off the coast near the Kuril Islands. In spite of the quake's large 8.3 magnitude, a relatively small tsunami was generated. This tsunami was recorded or observed in Japan and at distant locations throughout the Pacific. |
2007 | Solomon Islands | 2007 Solomon Islands earthquake | Earthquake | On 2 April 2007, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck about 40 km (25 mi) south of Ghizo Island in the western Solomon Islands at 7:39 a.m., resulting in a tsunami that was up to 12 m (36 feet) high. The wave, which struck the coast of Solomon Islands (mainly Choiseul, Ghizo Island, Ranongga, and Simbo), triggered tsunami warnings and watches extending from Japan to New Zealand to Hawaii and eastern Australia. The tsunami killed 52 people and dozens were injured when waves inundated towns. A state of national emergency was declared for the Solomon Islands. On the island of Choiseul, a wall of water reported to be 9.1 m (30 feet) high swept almost 400 meters inland. The largest waves hit the northern tip of Simbo Island, where two villages, Tapurai and Riquru, were completely destroyed by a 12 m wave, killing 10 people. Officials estimate that the tsunami displaced more than 5000 residents throughout the archipelago. |
2007 | Chile | 2007 Aysén Fjord earthquake | Earthquake and landslide | On 21 April 2007, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurred in the Aysén Fjord. On the mountains around the fjord, the earthquake caused landslides that in turn created waves as high as six meters, which severely damaged some salmon aquaculture installations. The potable water systems of the cities of Puerto Chacabuco and Puerto Aisén were broken, forcing firefighters and the army to supply water. The electricity network of Puerto Chacabuco was also cut off. Ten people were reported dead or missing. |
2007 | British Columbia | Landslide | On 4 December 2007, a landslide entered Chehalis Lake in British Columbia, generating a large lake tsunami that destroyed campgrounds and vegetation many meters above the shoreline.[92] | |
2009 | Samoa | 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami | Earthquake | A submarine earthquake took place in the Samoan Islands region at 06:48:11 local time on 29 September 2009. This magnitude 8.1 quake on the outer rise of the Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone was the largest earthquake of 2009.The subsequent tsunami caused substantial damage and loss of life in Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center recorded a 76 mm (3.0 in) rise in sea levels near the epicenter, and New Zealand scientists noted waves as high as 14 m (46 ft) on the Samoan coast. More than 189 people were killed, especially children, mostly in Samoa. Large waves with no major damage were reported on Fiji, the northern coast of New Zealand and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. People on low-lying atolls of Tokelau moved to higher ground as a precaution. |
2010 | Chile | 2010 Chile earthquake | Earthquake | On 27 February 2010, an 8.8 earthquake offshore of Chile caused a tsunami which caused serious damage and loss of life, it also caused minor effects in other Pacific nations. |
2010 | Sumatra | 2010 Mentawai earthquake and tsunami | Earthquake | On 25 October 2010, a 7.7 earthquake struck near South Pagai Island in Indonesia triggering a localized tsunami that killed at least 408 people. |
2011 | New Zealand | 2011 Christchurch earthquake | Earthquake-triggered ice fall | On 22 February 2011, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the Canterbury region of the South Island, New Zealand. Some 200 kilometres (120 mi) away from the earthquake's epicenter, around 30 million tonnes of ice tumbled off the Tasman Glacier into Tasman Lake, producing a series of 3.5 m (11 ft) high tsunami waves, which hit tourist boats in the lake.[93][94] |
2011 | Pacific coast of Japan | 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami | Earthquake |
On 11 March 2011, off the Pacific coast of Japan, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake produced a tsunami 33 feet (10 m) high along Japan's northeastern coast. The wave caused widespread devastation, with an official count of 18,550 people confirmed to be killed/missing.[95] The highest tsunami which was recorded at Miyako, Iwate reached a total height of 40.5 metres (133 ft).[96] In addition the tsunami precipitated multiple hydrogen explosions and nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Tsunami warnings were issued to the entire Pacific Rim.[97][98] |
2012 | El Salvador and Nicaragua | 2012 El Salvador earthquake | Earthquake | A magnitude 7.3 earthquake triggered local tsunami waves of up to 6 meters along a small stretch of coastline in El Salvador, injuring at least 40 people. Smaller waves were recorded in Nicaragua and the Galápagos Islands.[99] |
2013 | Solomon Islands | 2013 Solomon Islands earthquake | Earthquake | On 6 February 2013, an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Moment Magnitude scale struck the island nation of Solomon Islands. This earthquake created tsunami waves up to around 1 meter high. The tsunami also affected some other islands like New Caledonia and Vanuatu. |
2014 | Iceland | Askja | Landslide | At 11:24 PM on 21 July 2014, in a period experiencing an earthquake swarm related to the upcoming eruption of Bárðarbunga, an 800m-wide section gave way on the slopes of the Icelandic volcano Askja. Beginning at 350m over water height, it caused a tsunami 20–30 meters high across the caldera, and potentially larger at localized points of impact. Thanks to the late hour, no tourists were present; however, search and rescue observed a steam cloud rising from the volcano, apparently geothermal steam released by the landslide. Whether geothermal activity played a role in the landslide is uncertain. A total of 30–50 million cubic meters was involved in the landslide, raising the caldera's water level by 1–2 meters.[100] |
2015 | Chile | 2015 Chile earthquake | Earthquake | On Wednesday, 16 September 2015, a major earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Moment Magnitude scale struck the west coast of Chile, causing a tsunami up to 16 feet (4.88 meters) high along the Chilean coast. |
2015 | Taan Fiord, Alaska, U.S. | Icy Bay (Alaska) | Landslide | On Saturday, 17 October 2015, a major landslide occurred at the head of Taan Fiord, a finger of Icy Bay. It triggered a megatsunami with an initial height of 100 metres (328 ft) and a run-up on the opposite shore of the fjord of 193 metres (633 ft). As the wave traveled down Taan Fiord toward Icy Bay, run-ups along the shore of the fjord ranged from 20 metres (66 ft) to over 100 metres (328 ft). |
2016 | New Zealand | 2016 Kaikoura earthquake | Earthquake | On 14 November 2016, a big earthquake struck the South Island of New Zealand measuring 7.5 to 7.8 magnitude. A 2.5-metre tsunami hit Kaikoura and other small waves less than one metre hit various shores in New Zealand. |
2017 | Greenland | Landslide | On 17 June 2017, a landslide measuring 300 m × 1,100 m (980 ft × 3,610 ft) fell about 1 km (3,300 ft) into the Karrat fjord in the Uummannaq area in Western Greenland. The resultant tsunami hit the settlement Nuugaatsiaq killing four people, injuring nine and washing eleven buildings into the water.[101][102] In the beginning the tsunami had a height of 90 m (300 ft), but it was significantly lower once it hit the settlement.[102] Initially it was unclear if the landslide was caused by a small earthquake (magnitude 4),[101] but later it was confirmed that the landslide had caused the tremors.[102] | |
2018 | Sulawesi | 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami | Earthquake-triggered underwater landslide | On 28 September 2018, a localised tsunami struck Palu, sweeping shore-lying houses and buildings on its way; the earthquake, tsunami and soil liquefaction killed at least 4,300 and injured over 10,000 [103] The Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) confirmed that a tsunami occurred, with a height of between 1.5 and 2 metres (4.9 and 6.6 ft), striking the settlements of Palu, Donggala and Mamuju.[104] |
2018 | Java and Sumatra | 2018 Sunda Strait tsunami | Volcanic-eruption-triggered landslide | At 21:03 local time (14:03 UTC), Anak Krakatoa erupted and damaged local seismographic equipment though a nearby seismographic station detected continuous tremors.[105] BMKG detected a tsunami event around 21:27 local time (14:27 UTC) at the western coast of Banten, but the agency had not detected any preceding tectonic events.[106] On 23 December it was confirmed via satellite data and helicopter footage that the southwest sector of the Anak Krakatau had collapsed which triggered the tsunami and the main conduit is now erupting from underwater producing Surtseyan style activity.[107] The Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management initially reported 20 deaths and 165 injuries.[108] By the following day, the figure had been revised to 43 deaths, 584 injured, and 2 missing. Of the 43 recorded deaths, 33 were killed in Pandeglang, 7 in South Lampung, and 3 in Serang, with most of the injuries recorded (491) also occurring in Pandeglang. The areas of Pandeglang struck by the wave included beaches which are popular tourist destinations.[105][109] By 29 December, the death toll had risen to 426, while the injured numbered 7,202 and the missing 24.[110] |
2020 | Aegean Sea | 2020 Aegean Sea earthquake and tsunami | Earthquake | On 30 October 2020, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake triggered a tsunami that inundated the Greek islands of Ikaria, Kos, Chios, and Samos[111] as well as various other islands and coastal areas of Greece and Turkey, where it mainly affected Sığacık in Seferihisar. At least one elderly person in Turkey drowned. Tsunami heights ranged from 1.9 to 6 metres (6.2 to 19.7 ft).[112] |
2021 | South Pacific | 2021 Kermadec Islands earthquake and tsunami | Earthquake | On 5 March 2021, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake occurred in the Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone, generating a minor tsunami which primarily affected Norfolk Island and New Zealand. Major evacuations took place along the coast of New Zealand at Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, and Gibsorne following tsunami warnings.[113] A 64-centimetre (25 in) tsunami surge struck Norfolk Island and 30-to-40-centimetre (12 to 16 in) tsunami surges struck New Zealand.[114] |
2021 | Ambon | Earthquake-triggered underwater landslide | An undersea Mw 5.9 (USGS) or 6.1 (BMKG) earthquake near the island of Ambon in Indonesia, caused a submarine landslide. The slide then triggered a small tsunami up to 0.5 meters high which struck the coast four minutes later.[115] Both the earthquake and tsunami resulted in some damage to homes but there were no casualties.[116] | |
2022 | Tonga | 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami | Volcanic-eruption |
1:12 |
A large eruption of Hunga Tonga, a volcanic island in Tonga in the Pacific Ocean, occurred on 15 January 2022. The eruption caused tsunamis in Tonga and Fiji. Tsunami warnings were issued in Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, United States, Japan and Canada. The tsunami reached 15 metres (49 ft) in Tonga.[117][118] |
2022 | Pacific coast of Japan | 2022 Fukushima earthquake | Earthquake | 20- and 30-cm tsunamis reported in Miyagi[citation needed] |
2022 | Philippines | Tropical Storm Megi | Landslide | On 12 April 2022, a landslide caused by heavy rain due to Tropical Storm Megi created tsunami waves in Abuyog that killed two people and injured dozens more.[119] |
Highest or tallest
- The tsunami with the highest runup was the 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami, which had a record height of 524 m (1,719 ft).
- The only other recent megatsunamis are the 1963 Vajont Dam megatsunami, which had an initial height of 250 m (820 ft), the 1980 Spirit Lake megatsunami, which measured 260 m (850 ft) tall, and the 2015 megatsunami in Taan Fiord, a finger of Icy Bay in Alaska, which had an estimated initial height of 100 metres (328 ft) and a run-up of 193 metres (633 ft).
- A tsunami caused by a landslide during the 1964 Alaska earthquake reached a height of 70 m (230 ft), making it one of the largest tsunamis in recorded history.[120]
The deadliest tsunami in recorded history was the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed almost 230,000 people in fourteen countries including (listed in order of confirmed fatalities) Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Somalia, Myanmar, Maldives, Malaysia, Tanzania, Seychelles, Bangladesh, South Africa, Yemen and Kenya.[121].
As you can see from the information on this page, there have been Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tsunamis through out the thousands of years of humanity. The only difference in the future will be: this Time Period has been predicted by the Spirit of God to occur on during a certain period of 3 1/2 years and for the most part; during about a 45 day time span at the very end of this cycle, known as the Wrath of GOD, which will be the 7 Vials from the Book of Revelation…