Inside Gareth's Mind
by Gareth Boyce
Amidst turbulent and tremulous
times, the Earth itself has decided that
it, too, should join in with the rest of
the chaos in the form of earthquakes.
Scoff all you want, but I see this is as a
real issue and not something that can
be tossed aside as a mere shaking of
the Earth. Let’s start with a recap of the
last three months, shall we?
It started on Jan. 12 when a 7.0
earthquake rumbled through Haiti.
Thousands died and thousands more
were left homeless. Earthquakes
in Chile, Japan, Turkey, and China
struck in the months following. And
now, as of Apr. 1, there have been 17
large earthquakes (5.0 or higher) in
three months’ time. This is scary. Is
the world falling apart around us?
Has something we humans have done
caused this sudden movement of the
tectonic plates? Perhaps we will never
know, but this is still something that I
can’t help but feel worried about.
Living in Nanaimo, we’re on the
Ring of Fire (an earthquake hot zone
that rings the coasts on both sides
of the Pacific Ocean), which means
that we should be prepared in case a
large earthquake strikes us. I moved
to Nanaimo when I was five years old,
way back in ’92, and since that time
I have lived with the knowledge that
the West Coast should be expecting a
large earthquake. We have been due
for one, according to seismologists,
since then and possibly even before
’92. Yet, I have only lived through two
earthquakes, neither of them large
enough to cause any damage. I’m still
waiting for the “Big One.” And now, I
guess, my fear is that with all the tectonic
activity plaguing the world this
year, our peaceful, little Island could
be next.
But there is more to these
earthquakes than meets the eye. Nostradamus
predicted them; I even had
a couple of Jehovah Witnesses come
to my door the other day and show
me a Bible scripture that mentions a
string of earthquakes as well. Both
Nostradamus and the Bible mention
these earthquakes as hints of the coming
apocalypse. Will it be a physical
apocalypse or a metaphorical one?
Will the Earth shake until civilization
is dust? Or will something else,
completely unknown, happen?
I’m not a religious man. I don’t
believe that God or anyone, even
Nostradamus, could have predicted
what is going on. Sure, the Mayan
calendar doesn’t go past 2012, but
maybe they just decided recording
time past then would be silly, and kind
of stupid (I think building a calendar
that stretched so far into the future
was kind of ridiculous to begin with).
There are too many unknowns; there
are too many variables in the equations
for a reasonable answer to be
found.
No matter what is going on, no
matter if the world is going to end
or not, I think these earthquakes
are something we should pay attention
to. I don’t believe in coincidences,
so I have been watching
earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww, which updates earthquakes
of all sizes by the hour, which
is pretty impressive. I want to stay on
top of it, just in case there is a buildup
of smaller earthquakes near our pretty
little Island. It could happen to us at
any time, without warning. So, I also
plan on preparing for an earthquake.
I have plans to buy flats of bottled
water, canned goods, and other nonperishable
items. On the Ring of Fire,
I’d rather be prepared than struggle
when the “Big One” finally does hit.