* BEL Earthquake Warning Policy: (Updated 1/10/20) In 2004 two of the four participants in an Age of the Earth Debate who faced off were Bob Enyart and John Nicholl, the former president of EEGS, Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society. After the debate, Nicholl asked Enyart, if the earth really were young, and had recently experienced a global flood, that would mean that geologists should give governments greater warnings about earthquake risks, so do you think we should do that? Bob answered yes, governments should be warned of earthquake risks and of their attendant tsunamis (e.g., 225,000+ killed around the Indian Ocean in 2004), and volcanic eruptions, greater than that predicted by old-earth assumptions.
* Death Toll Update at 770,000 Casualites: Since 9-11, when the terrible casualty count was about 3,000 dead from terrorism, governments have spent more than a trillion dollars attempting to minimize the risk of further such deaths. In contrast, for the casualties in the years since our debate with Reasons 2 Believe, more than 770,000 people have died from earthquakes. (See tiny.cc/EQ-deaths-since-R2B-v-RSR.)
Powerful Recent Quakes: Since that debate on Feb. 28, 2004 the world has not only seen the recent quakes that made the headlines like in Italy and Haiti, but three of the top ten (five of the top 15) most powerful earthquakes since 1900 have hit since that recent debate:
- 2004-12-26 Mag. 9.1 Off Coast of Sumatra
- 2010-2-27 Mag. 8.8 Offshore Chile
- 2011-3-11 Mag. 9.0 Off Coast of Japan
2016 USGS Update: USGS urges Kansans to prepare for earthquakes like Californians.
Confidence in geological risk assessment is underserved unless the geologist can account for major features of the earth's crustal history, as discussed above, including by explaining:
- Why are there 40,000 volcanoes in the Pacific rather than in the Atlantic?
- Why are so many ocean trenches in the Pacific and not in the Atlantic?
- Why does the center of the Pacific trenches lie opposite of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?
- Why are there so many earthquakes away from plate boundaries?
Because of the assumption that everything is billions of years old, scientists are astonished to see so many transient occurrences in our galaxy, in our solar system, in Saturn, in the moon, and on the Earth. A thousand times over young-earth creationism is consistent with scientific observations, whereas those observations surprise old-earthers because they would never have predicted such occurrences.
Over the last 20 years, BEL has had accurate predictions regarding the spread of HIV in America, recognition of abortion as a risk factor for breast cancer, that global warming is a fabricated crisis, etc. Now, it turns out that BEL's Earthquake Warning Policy for governments is spot on also. 2015 Update: The plot in the mega-disaster film San Andreas (not recommended unless viewed through a filtering program like VidAngel) uses the same earthquake detection technique as discussed in RSR's interview with Quakefinder's Tom Bleier.
* Today's 5.8 Earthquake in Virginia Assessed: Today's Virginia earthquake was felt from Atlanta to Chicago to Toronto, Canada with noticeable shaking in the concrete jungle of Manhattan Island and in Boston. The White House and Pentagon were evacuated and two nuclear reactors were taken offline. But no, the Washington Monument is not tilting as Megyn Kelly of Fox News had reported. But of course, this earthquake reminds us of the importance of the BEL Earthquake Warning Policy.
[9-20-2011 Update: Italian prosecutors put six geologists on trial for not predicting a 2009 earthquake, despite signs of increased seismic activity, that killed 300 people in central Italy. The defendants, six scientists and a government official, are accused of manslaughter. While this legal action seems absurd, it does highlight the trust that the public wants to put in the estimations of scientists, and the harm that results when the invalid old-earth paradigm causes geologists to operate in a false sense of security.]
Hopefully, geologists will see the evidence constantly amassed by young-earth creationists and will allow enough doubt to be created to give them open minds. Just a few examples from our RSF's List of Not So Old Things:
- Soft-tissue dinosaurs seemingly EVERYWHERE
- Carbon 14 EVERYWHERE it's not supposed to be; etc.
- Super Nova Remnants NOWHERE!
- Fossils containing proteins, DNA and even living bacteria!
- ETC., Etc., etc...
If such doubt is created in the minds of geologists, then they will answer geophysicist John Nicholl's question correctly: Yes, we should warn governments of earthquake risks greater than conventional wisdom assumes as predicted by old-earth assumptions.
* Interesting Earthquake Questions: Answers at rsr.org/how-earthquakes-added-five-days-to-the-year...
- Why did ancient cultures use a 360-day calendar?
- Why did early mathematicians divide a circle into 360 degrees?
- Why does the Earth's core rotate faster than the Earth?
- Why are there so many earthquakes away from plate boundaries?
- Why are there 40,000 volcanoes in the Pacific rather than in the Atlantic?
- Why are so many ocean trenches in the Pacific and not in the Atlantic?
- Why does the center of the Pacific trenches lie opposite of the Mid-Atlantic ridge?
- Why are there super deep earthquakes with epicenters so low they shock geologists?
- Why is there so much liquid rock in the earth?
- Why did the Earth's rotation speed up from 360 to 365 days per year?
- Why does the hard data from GPS stations show that the crust does not move as predicted by plate tectonics?
And a bonus question:
- What are earthquake lights? See rsr.org/earthquake-lights.
* Crime at the 49ers Game: If I can quote myself says Bob, “It’s no longer a justice system, now it’s just a system.” Crime is epidemic because our criminal justice system is not “the best system in the world,” which all of our attorneys tell us (by which they mean that we have the highest paid lawyers in the world). With some of the world’s highest rates for violent crime, sexual crime, and incarceration, the RESULTS indicate that the U.S. has one of the worst systems in the world. Thus since our justice system provides insufficient deterrence, private companies are pushed into absurd responses, like banning tailgate parties.
* Three Year Anniversary of the World's Largest Protest Sign: Check it out!
Today’s Resource: You can get Focus on the Strategy 3 as well as Focus on the Strategy 1 & 2 DVD combo containing the blockbuster analysis of pro-life and political strategy. Focus on the Strategy, advertised by other ministries as the DVD of the Century, is the blockbuster analysis of Christian political strategy, filmed before a live audience of 300 Christian activists in which Bob Enyart reveals the presentation he gave at Focus on the Family to Tom Minnery, VP of Public Policy for Dr. James Dobson. And the sequel, film festival finalist Focus on the Strategy II, with its dozens of video and audio clips which has extraordinary endorsements from many Christian leaders as the must see video for everyone who wants to end 'legalized' abortion. Now, Focus 3 presents the three-pronged strategy of how to end abortion! Please watch these vitally important DVDs and consider getting a set for a friend!
* Earthquake Magnitude Scale: From Michigan Tech...
| Magnitude | Earthquake Effects | Estimated Number Each Year |
| 2.5 or less | Usually not felt, but can be recorded by seismograph. | 900,000 |
| 2.5 to 5.4 | Often felt, but only causes minor damage. | 30,000 |
| 5.5 to 6.0 | Slight damage to buildings and other structures. | 500 |
| 6.1 to 6.9 | May cause a lot of damage in very populated areas. | 100 |
| 7.0 to 7.9 | Major earthquake. Serious damage. | 20 |
| 8.0 or greater | Great earthquake. Can totally destroy communities near the epicenter. | One every 5 to 10 years |
Earthquake Magnitude Classes
Earthquakes are also classified in categories ranging from minor to great, depending on their magnitude.
| Class | Magnitude |
| Great | 8 or more |
| Major | 7 - 7.9 |
| Strong | 6 - 6.9 |
| Moderate | 5 - 5.9 |
| Light | 4 - 4.9 |
| Minor | 3 -3.9 |