Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:6-8 and in Mark 13:7-8. “And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginnings of sorrows (birth pains).”

Often, we Christians remark that as earthquakes are increasing, then we may well be in the last days Jesus was warning about above. But are earthquakes actually increasing in number, and did Jesus say they would, or did He just say that there would definitely be earthquakes?

If Jesus was wrong, then earthquakes would have ceased altogether. But they haven't, so He was obviously right that there would be earthquakes, whether they increased in number or not.

Quite a few scientists argue that quakes are in fact not increasing in number, only that we are now more capable of detecting them, so it would appear as if they are becoming more frequent.

Other data would suggest that whist they may not be increasing in number, their severity is, and the damage and loss of life as a result is increasing. Jesus said earthquakes would be just a part of a beginning of sorrows, "like birth pains."

Any woman will tell you that birth pains increase in frequency and severity, so it could be safe to assume that earthquakes in the end times will increase in number and severity.

As someone who has lived on this earth quite some time, I can honestly say that earthquakes SEEM to be if not increasing, then certainly becoming more devastating in their resultant loss of life and damage together with related tsunamis. A 9.1 earthquake in the Indian Ocean in December 2004 caused a tsunami that killed 230,00 people in 11 countries. Recently  a quake off the coast of New Zealand measured 8.5 on the Richter Scale and actually moved New Zealand 100 feet closer to Australia.  In May 2008 in China an estimated 70,000 people lost their lives in a magnitude 7.9 quake. Most recently is the Haiti quake in January 2010 that hit 7.0 and the estimated death toll is close to 500,000 at this time. And now an 8 plus earthquake in Chile just a few weeks later.

However, there are so many other more provable and obvious signs that we are approaching the end of God's patience with this world, that we don't need to rely on earthquake activity to prove our point that these are the last days.

Signs such as Israel back in her home land, violence, terrorism, immorality, liars, cheats, homosexuality, lawlessness, disrespect for authority, selfishness and a departure from Christian principles and teachings, to name but a very few.

But getting back to earthquakes, I personally believe the rise in significant earthquakes is yet another indicator that we are nearing the end of the Church Age. However, the most significant increase in earthquake activity will probably start to be seen in the first part of the seven year tribulation.

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