The earthquake in L’Aquila
and its meaning

 
In the current conjecture of the world, the fundamentalists have in front of them plenty of ideas. Indeed, what has been seen in the planet in the last four years – seaquakes, tsunamis, eruptions, hurricanes, bird flu, La Oroya fever, aftosa fever and several earthquakes, such as the one occurred recently in L’Aquila, Italy – seems to indicate that we are close to the moment described by Jesus on the well-known prophetic sermon, which the evangelist Matthews reproduced in the chapter 24, versicles 3 to 14, of his Gospel. 

Shall we remember some concepts:

Seaquake: an earthquake originating under the ocean floor. It is caused by shifting of the tectonic plates, which are pieces of the Earth’s crust. Big seaquakes produce giant waves of water, the Tsunamis, move kilometers in high speed. Sometimes, theses waves strike islands and continental areas, causing extreme material destruction and deaths in inhabited regions. The waves can reach heights of up to 30 meters. The term “seaquake” is usually mentioned as a synonym for Tsunami, thought such denomination is incorrect as a Tsunami corresponds to the possible consequence of a seaquake.

Tsunami: it is a wave or a series of them produced after abrupt disturbances which move a water column vertically. For instance, a seism, a volcanic activity, an abrupt shift of land or ice, or even due to the impact of a meteor within or near the sea.

Hurricane: a type of cyclone, a devastating windstorm, storm, typhoon. A typical phenomenon in Central America, Florida, Pacific (Northeastern and South) and North Atlantic, having winds that reach the number 12 in the Beaufort scale. The frequency of hurricanes has increased and its possible cause is the global warming, since it is necessary that the ocean waters reach 26 degrees Celsius in a depth of 45 meters, according to the specialists.

La Oroya fever: typical disease in the Andes region, caused by the bacteria Bartonella, which has appeared in lower regions, far from its original environment. This disease is one of the examples of how certain microorganisms can spread all over the world and reach individuals living kilometers away from the bacteria’s habitat.

Aftosa fever: a disease caused by a virus of the family Picornaviridae, that usually affects cattle and pig but rarely affects human beings. It is transmitted via skin wounds and, in a few cases, via raw milk intake. The symptoms are aphthas, fever and purulent lesions on the skin.

If the four first ones are not common in Brazil, the fever that recently affected the Brazilian cattle caused very bad consequences to our people, as the businesses suffered a serious impact in the regions where the economic activities rely on cattle raising. The unemployment affected thousands of people and the economy saw the major incomes, which are originated from exportation of meat and derivates, disappear. 

It is clear the human action or omission in many of these problems. The aggression to the environment and its effects has been highlighted since long time ago. It is necessary, however, to consider that many of these disasters have nothing to do with the current human practices. In fact, they are consequences of mistakes from the past, which would have to present their effects sooner or later, due to the law of action-reaction that rules the planet’s life. 

In the sermon reproduced by Matthews, Jesus talks about the false prophets who would come in His name to deceive many people. He mentions the wars and rumors of war, warns about hunger, pests and earthquakes which would occur in many places and makes an extraordinary prediction of the time in which we are living, stating that the iniquity would increase and make the love of most grow cold. But the one who stands firm to the end would be saved and the Gospel of the Kingdom would be preached in the whole world. Then the end would come – not the end the planet but certainly the end of an old world, occupied by proud, selfish, aggressive and corrupt individuals, people that would no longer have a chance to reincarnate on Earth, due to the principle that the planet would be inherited by the gentles as also taught by Him. 

Obviously, before the victims and thousands of L’Avila homeless people, what remains for us to do is, firstly, to pray to the Father and to beg Him for their protection, for peace and joy to come back to the homes of those directly or indirectly affected by that tragedy that shocked the planet. And, secondly, that we can put all our strength in order to remove or at least diminish similar disasters predicted to happen in this planet.