In 1978 Belizeans experienced the tremors of a powerful earthquake that struck Nicaragua. For the first time I felt the waterbed syndrome caused by earthquake tremors.
The most memorable period of earthquake tremors came in 1997. According to my records, the first tremor took place in Belize City on January 1, 1997, at 6:50 a.m. The second one was felt on April 15, 1997, at 1:56 a.m. The other took place on July 6, 1997, at about 2 p.m.
The Amandala of Sunday, July 13, 1997, gave us the following account. “On Sunday afternoon Belize City residents were startled when they felt their houses begin to shake. People started to ring relatives and friends around the country to find out whether they had felt anything too.” According to that report, the center of that earthquake was at 16.14 degrees North latitude and 87.95 degrees West longitude. The quake measured 5.4 on the Richter Scale, and took place 20 ½ miles beneath the earth’s surface.
It is interesting to note that the 7.1 earthquake of last Thursday, May 29, 2009, took place in the same area. It was centered at 16.7N and 86.2W off the coast of Honduras. Belize is now on the earthquake watch.
According to the Quran and the Bible, the world itself should be on earthquake and other disaster watch. There is a whole chapter of the Quran that warns mankind about a special day called earthquake. Quran Chapter 99, verses 1-8: “(1) In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. When the earth is shaken with her final earthquake (2) and the earth yieldeth up her burdens (3) and saith: What aileth her? (4) that day she will relate her chronicles (5) because thy Lord inspireth her. (6) That day mankind will issue forth in scattered groups to be shown their deeds. (7) And who doeth good an atom’s weight will see it then. (8) And whoso doeth ill an atom’s weight, will see it then.”
According to the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verses 1-8, the prophet Jesus warns His followers and the world in the following words: “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places.”