Deep Earthquakes, Part 3

Last time we talked about the incredibly deep earthquake below the Sea of Okhotsk (north of Japan).    This time we are going to dig a little bit deeper into this earthquake and the implications it has for the global flood mentioned in Genesis.    Archimedes is well known for his discoveries in displacement – when we put an object in water, the water rises up higher because the object is essentially taking the place of some of the water.  Well, when one of earth’s plates sinks under another (causing an earthquake), the same thing happens – rock from underneath the earth has to be shoved up to the surface to make room for the plate that just pushed its way down.  Geologists measure this displacement to better understand how deep and intense the plate movement was.

The highest measured displacement for the Sea of Okhotsk earthquake event was 32.5 feet.   However, there is good evidence that much greater displacements (over 328 feet) from “super-faults” happened in the past during and shortly after the global flood.  When a plate moves very quickly during a “super-quake”, it creates a special kind of rock form called PST (stands for “psudotachylyte”). This PST and their “super-faults” have been found in many places around the world.  PST has been found on Kodiak Island, Alaska, that has 12 inch thick layers (one inch of PST indicates more than 30 feet of plate movement).    This means that we have had some very dramatic and catastrophic plate movement in the past–nothing like we see today.

This science of incredible earthquake movement helps support what the Bible says about the global flood and young earth.  It is also a reminder to us of God’s righteous wrath in judgment.  Yes, God is love, but He is also just and good.   He does not exist to let us do whatever we want without suffering the consequences; He gives us freedom to make our own choices, but that freedom comes with a heavy responsibility.   Although this extreme plate movement and catastrophe of a flood shows God’s wrath, it also shows His mercy and grace.  The same plate movements that helped drown the sinful world in the days of Noah re-shaped the earth, giving us beautiful mountains, canyons, and islands.

Reference: Clarey, Tim.  (2014, January). Runaway Subduction and Deep Catastropic Earthquakes.  Acts & Facts 43(1), 18-19.  Institute for Creation Research.  Dallas, TX.