Earthquakes at 3 Locations Around the World on Wednesday

This past Wednesday June 24, 2026, major earthquakes hit 3 separate locations around the world:  Venezuela, Japan, and California.  I've never heard of major earthquakes hitting different locations around the world on the same day.  

Venezuela was hit with a 7.5 magnitude quake, the second-largest ever recorded in that country.  It was soon followed by a 7.2 quake and several other smaller quakes.  Hundreds of buildings have fallen killing over 1,000 people.  That is of special interest to us since my wife is from Venezuela.  Ivonne says that people are afraid to fall asleep because they keep having smaller quakes.  

A magnitude 6.9 quake hit Japan, injuring 10 people and a 5.6 quake hit California west of Yuba City (where I grew up) near Ukiah.  This fulfills scripture.  D&C 45: 33 says earthquakes will happen in diverse places -- I just didn't know it would be diverse locations on the same day.  It's a scary time seeing that the world is descending into chaos and knowing it is only going to get worse.  It's good to have a thick skin and strong faith at times like this.

This is a spiritual wakeup call to the world and it's not just members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who are getting the message.  Christians who read the Bible are also seeing this for what it is -- signs of the times, signs that the Second Coming of the Lord draws near.  I saw one podcaster speaking about the earthquakes mention that these are signs of the times, so Christians who are spiritually inclined are understanding world events in their true light.

Do you want to know what is going to happen in the world before the Second Coming, and how we are going to get through it?

We know the following is true:  1) Human nature does not change,  2) God does not change, and  3) History repeats itself over and over -- not exactly, but in similar ways.  Therefore, the types of events that have happened in the past will happen again.  The Book of Mormon shows us the types of events that will happen and how God will support us to get through it.  We are in the period now that compares with the latter part of the book of Alma, Helaman, and the first chapters in 3 Nephi.  If you go read that, you are  not reading about the past, you are reading about our future.  

We have some idea of the mass death and destruction that will happen in the world before the Lord returns to earth to reign in power and glory.  It's comforting to know that God knows everything that will happen and has prepared for our safety and protection.  1 Nephi 22 says that the Lord will not allow the wicked to destroy the righteous, even if He must destroy the wicked by fire;  therefore, the righteous need not fear.  Interesting that he didn't say members of the church or the Saints, but the righteous, so that includes the good people who will join us who are not in our church.  It also implies that members of the church who are not righteous may not be spared.

I will be speaking in sacrament meeting today in my new ward after moving into our new apartment.  Ivonne and I will be talking about this subject and the need to prepare spiritually and temporally.