Worshipper says earthquakes are a sign to repent - But geologist says it’s just science

Jamaicans have been seemingly feeling the ground shake more often in recent times, leaving many to wonder if it's a fulfilment of biblical end-time prophecy.

However, others believe it's just science as the island is sitting on a restless fault line. Kareem Thomas, who worships at Shatina Intercessory Outreach Ministries on Red Hills Road in St Andrew, believes the increasing tremors are part of a spiritual warning.

"From a scriptural perspective, we can even look at the book of Luke chapter 21 and verse 11. The scripture says, ' great earthquakes shall be in diverse places'," he said.

"These on-and-off earthquakes, one minute one earthquake at the western [side], next minute one at the eastern and the time frame is not far apart. Not only in Jamaica but this is happening in the Caribbean and all over the world."

"These are things that were written thousands of years ago and now we are living in that very same manifestation," he said.

He argued that other global issues, including food shortages and extreme weather events, are also signs that the world is entering its final chapter.

"The truth is that Jesus Christ is coming back, whether we're ready or not." While he admitted that people have been hearing warnings about the end of time for decades, he opined that this is different.

"The times that we are seeing now, the climate shift, the consistent earthquakes one behind the next, it wasn't prevalent back then. The signs are evident now," he insisted. Thomas opined that many Jamaicans are ignoring the warning signs, and said the focus should be spiritual preparation.

"I am cautioning Jamaicans to take a relationship with God more seriously. Life is too short to be carrying unforgiveness and bitterness. Jesus Christ is coming back and we need to repent of our sins."

However, Dr Simon Mitchell, professor of sedimentary geology at The University of the West Indies, says there's several reasons why Jamaica is getting multiple earthquakes.

"We have seen different sets of faults move which aren't related. One is the Plantain Garden fault between Jamaica and Haiti, and also the central Jamaica fault has moved. So they're not directly related -- it's just a coincidence that they happened close together."

According to Mitchell, the perception that earthquakes are happening more frequently may also be misleading.

"The number of earthquakes isn't really different. It's probably just that people are more sensitive to earthquakes now," he said. "There are typically about 140 to 200 recorded earthquakes a year in Jamaica, but we only feel a very, very small number of them."

He added that many of the tremors Jamaicans have been feeling recently are aftershocks from a magnitude 5.6 earthquake that struck two years ago.

"That's all the other faults around that movement adjusting," Mitchell said.

Even so, he warned that Jamaica could one day experience another major earthquake -- though predicting when is impossible. He said that large earthquakes tend to occur centuries apart.

"But our historical record isn't long enough to say exactly when the next one will come," he said.

Jamaica's history proves just how devastating those events can be. The 1692 Port Royal earthquake, for example, sank much of the city beneath the sea and triggered a tsunami, while the 1907 Kingston earthquake caused widespread fires and destruction across the capital.