Jim2,
The Institute for Creation Research put together an article that debunks the erroneous earthquake numbers you cite (it seems the information you cite has become a bit of an urban legend). I did further research and found Actual USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) statistics that support the Institute for Creation Research article. Page 670 of the USGS link provides the actual earthquake recordings for 6.5 and higher earthquakes—in the time periods you point to.
Here are a few snippets from the Institute for Creation Research article: If you are not familiar with this group, here is their Mission Statement: “ICR equips believers with evidence of the Bible's accuracy and authority through scientific research, educational programs, and media presentations, all conducted within a thoroughly biblical framework.”
Here is their conclusion concerning your earthquake information:
“CONCLUSION
A number of prophecy teachers say that a pronounced increase in frequency and intensity of earthquakes has occurred in the latter part of the twentieth century, a worldwide trend fulfilling a prophecy made by Jesus. Contrary to these prophecy teachers, no obvious trend is found indicating an abnormal increase in the frequency of large earthquakes during the last half of the twentieth century. Neither is there a noteworthy deficiency of earthquakes in the first half of the century. Graphical plots of global earthquake frequency indicate overall a decreasing frequency of earthquakes through the century. The decades of the 1970s, 80s and 90s experienced a deficit of larger earthquakes compared to earlier decades of the century. The 70s, 80s and 90s are precisely those decades that many prophecy teachers suppose, erroneously, show a dramatic surplus of larger earthquakes. Regional earthquake data from California and Japan also do not argue for increasing earthquake frequency in the latter decades of our century.”
And here is a section that deals (I’m guessing) directly with where your source of information came from: Again, this is from ‘Institute for Creation Research’article:
“Hal Lindsey, the world's best known Bible prophecy teacher and author of 17 books on prophecy, writes in one of his latest books:
Earthquakes continue to increase in frequency and intensity, just as the Bible predicts for the last days before the return of Christ. History shows that the number of killer quakes remained fairly constant until the 1950s - averaging between two to four per decade. In the 1950s, there were nine. In the 1960s, there were 13. In the 1970s, there were 51. In the 1980s, there were 86. From 1990 through 1996, there have been more than 150. 1
What is the source of Lindsey's statistics? In his book Planet Earth 2000 A.D. Lindsey cites the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in Boulder, Colorado.2 Yet he does not give details of the report (author, date, report name, location, etc.).3 Lindsey's earthquake frequency numbers have been widely circulated by popular prophecy speakers such as Chuck Missler and Jack Van Impe.4 However, Missler and Van Impe do not give any further information on the source of Lindsey's statistics.
Grant R. Jeffrey, another Bible prophecy teacher and author of nine best-selling books, could be the source of Lindsey's statistics. Two years before Lindsey's statement was published, Jeffrey wrote:
However, since A.D. 1900, the growth in major earthquakes has been relentless. From 1900 to 1949 it averaged three major quakes per decade. From 1949 the increase became awesome with 9 killer quakes in the 1950's; 13 in the 60's; 56 in the 1970's and an amazing 74 major quakes in the 1980's. Finally, in the 1990's, as [sic] the present rate, we will experience 125 major killer quakes in this decade (Source: U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Report, Boulder, Colorado).5
J. R. Church and Gary Stearman, editors of the magazine Prophecy in the News, argued that data show a pronounced increase in the frequency of the largest earthquakes in the 1990s. Church writes of a distinct increase in our century.6 Stearman gives specific numbers of earthquakes, and he cites as his source the October 11, 1995 issue of the newspaper Philadelphia Inquirer:
According to that newspaper the number of Richter magnitude 6.0 and greater earthquakes worldwide has been increasing from nine in the 1950s, to 13 in the 1960s, to 51 in the 1970s, to 86 in the 1980s, and to more than 100 in the 1990s.7
The computer-searchable archives of the Philadelphia Inquirer reveal no article on earthquake frequency in that newspaper on October 11, 1995 and no other issue of that newspaper during the decade of the 1990s.8 What is the source of Stearman's statistics? When several readers of Stearman's article confronted him with much more earthquake data than in the mysterious citation from the newspaper, he apologized in print for the bad statistics, but, then, after his apology, reaffirmed that earthquakes are indeed increasing.9”
For those who would like to read the entire Institute for Creation Research article…the link is: <A HREF="
http://www.icr.org/research/index/researchp_sa_r06/" TARGET=_blank>
http://www.icr.org/research/index/researchp_sa_r06/</A>
And here is the USGS link. It provides 2 easy to read charts that provide the earthquake data. Click on “The Centennial Catalog (Engdahl and Villasenor, 2002) in order to see the earthquake data if you are interested: <A HREF="
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/data/centennial.php" TARGET=_blank>
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/dat ... ial.php</A>
JOP