Scientists and seers both express concern over hidden fault that could cause a massive tidal wave in the Atlantic
by Michael H. Brown
The location is 36.5 north latitude/11west longitude. In plain English, the Atlantic Ocean, 300 miles west of the Strait of Gibraltar, between the Azores and Portugal. There, near a continental margin, in a part of the ocean that has been barely studied, a huge section of the ocean floor is heaving as underwater mountains grow. Though it is virtually unknown to the general public (and even to most geologists), it's a region that poses one of the greatest earthquake threats in the world. The reason is simple: a major quake here -- another rise, or a slip of the tectonic plates -- could send a wall of water from northern Africa to Ireland and for all we know across the sea to America.
It's called the Gorringe Ridge, and I investigated it while writing Sent to Earth. The message is clear: while all eyes turn to California when we think of seismic threats, there's no telling where the next one -- one potentially much more damaging than what just occurred in India -- may occur. All we know is that tidal waves -- tsunamis -- have originated from this mysterious spot since ancient times. The last major one was in 1755 (on All Saints Day), and it caused effects across Europe.
So powerful was the quake that it was felt over an estimated that 38 million kilometers, or 1/13th of the entire earth.
In many nations lakes were agitated and wells foamed or even shot forth like geysers. Chandeliers swung. Water sloshed near the English Channel. Some said the most distant effects were in Russia and Finland, while others said that shocks were felt in Boston.
Lake Ontario rose with great violence three times that day, and a light shaking was felt across Pennsylvania.
But the real trauma was in Europe. There, in Lisbon 100,000 died, 18,000 buildings were destroyed, and a fire raged for three days, causing an Exodus-like darkness.
The most terrifying aspect, however, was the waves. In Morocco and many parts near the Mediterranean water swept over ancient walls and as far away as England and Amsterdam ships were torn from their moorings and waves washed up to the Celtic sea.
According to Dr. Arch C. Johnston, at the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, tsunamis in southern Portugal may have risen to the startling height of 100 feet -- five times the surge from a high-category hurricane. There were even tidal waves in the Caribbean.
That was a magnitude-8.7 quake; the next one could be far larger.
"This is a very unique region," I was told by Dr. Wang-Ping Chen, a geophysicist at the University of Illinois. "Back in 1969 there was a very large earthquake in the southeast side of the Gorringe ridge. It was about 7.9 and extremely deep. In 1954 there was a very large earthquake that occurred, very deep, around 600 kilometers or so. It was a loner, very strange."
Mysterious indeed. And the main question is whether those were precursors. I believe in Christian prophecy, and at least one recent revelation pinpointed this very area before I even spoke to scientists about it. Other alleged revelations -- especially in Western Europe -- have included visions of large waves and splits in the earth.
Someone just sent me a message from France that predicted a shift in the the ocean of "underground plates."
Promotion of that revelation has been discouraged by the bishop, however, and so we turn again to history. What does that show? There were major tsunamis in 62 B.C. and again in 382 A.D. Since 1931 there have been at least ten events of significant magnitude. Are these precursors? Is a blob of what they call lithosophere about to drop? One can only imagine what a simple repeat of 1755 would do -- not to mention a magnitude higher. Will a day come when we hear urgent bulletins about a seaquake and then have to wait hours to see if it is going to send a backwash to the East Coast? To Florida? To Virginia? To New York City?
It's not "gloom and doom" to explore these matters. It's gloom and doom to ignore them. We're called to recognize potential problems like the Gorringe Ridge and pray. For only if the world turns back to God will we avoid events set to come as part of a purification (a tribulation that, in my belief, has already started).
Related story on other, smaller cracks