Earthquake Coincidence

Of course, we don’t believe in coincidences. If things “just happen”, then there’s really no reason to worry about right or wrong or the past or the future because nothing really matters.

But after last evening’s earthquake in Mexico, the memes of “Wake me up when September is over” were flying all over social media.

Of course, the Mexico City earthquake by which all others are still measured is the quake of ’85. It was the 19th of September. And it seemed that everyone knew someone who died.

In 2017, a massive quake hit on the 7th of September, shaking Mexico City enough to close some buildings until they could be assessed for damage. But of course for the big city the most memorable quake was later the same month – on the anniversary of the 1985 quake – once again on the 19th of September.

Which actually was a mercy, because there had just been an annual quake drill that same morning, so everyone knew where to go and what to do.

Although we have experienced other quakes through the years, the earthquake last night does rate as one of the strongest we’ve felt, although this time there was no (noticeable) damage in our house. It’s strange how different quakes move things in different ways – back and forth, up and down – and it’s hard to predict what kind of damage it will do. Thankfully, this one – although rated as a 7.1, and very close to Acapulco – did very little damage.

We actually received other earthquake warnings last night – one about an hour before this one hit – but this was the only one we felt. We went outside to join the neighbours in the (light) rain.

Knowing that we were in the Lord’s hands, we were even able to be amazed by “earthquake lights”. Earthquake lights refer to a rare and not completely explained phenomenon when you see lights (or even balls of fire) during a quake. Although we’ve seen video of these from past quakes, this time we had a good view. The power quickly went out, and it was dark. And in the sky were brilliant flashes of blue/green light – similar in colour to northern lights, if you’ve seen those. Quite beautiful, actually! If you do a search on social media, you’ll likely be able to find some video. And various related conspiracy theories, no doubt.

The power was off for three hours or so, leading to the challenge of trying to remember which lights we had left on in the house, before going to bed. We almost had them all right – we left one light on, and for some inexplicable reason the TV came on when the power came back on.

The social media crowd also pointed out another coincidence – yesterday was the day in which the supreme court in Mexico decided to decriminalize the murder of babies in the womb, proclaiming that criminalizing some types of murder is “unconstitutional”. Well, I think that these days God could pick any day He wanted to remind us that His final judgement is coming, and it would have been a fitting day. But Mexico City is especially jittery – the day before the quake some areas had drastic floods – floods that literally swept cars down the street.

As you may know, Mexico has also been affected by this year’s hurricane season, destroying homes closer to the coast.

Little reminders to look up, and think about who God is, and listen to Him for a change. And yet, so many talk about the “end times” – but get on with their God-rejecting lives as quickly as possible.

Anyway, we are thankful that those that we know of are safe here. With all utilities functioning today, it was a normal work day for us! So I’d better get back at it.