Q:
What’s the benefit of earthquakes?
A:
I’ll ask a question. If you had eaten a big meal and it generated a lot of gas, so sometimes when you’re polite company, you feel that you’re bursting. You have to go someplace where you can relieve the pressure. Now what’s the benefit of that?
The earth, you have to know, is building up pressure. And it must be relieved. An earthquake is going to save us from a bigger catastrophe that’s lying in store. And therefore, the pressure is relieved along a certain line. And in that line, a little havoc is caused, or maybe relatively small havoc, but it’s nothing compared to what would happen if there was no vent. So therefore, an earthquake really is a lifesaver for the earth. Because what’s doing underneath the surface, tremendous pressures are being built up. There’s tremendous heat being built up. There’s friction of the strata one upon the other. And that friction causes heat. And the heat causes the water to volatilize. Water becomes steam. And it makes a vast pressure underground. And there has to be movement someplace in order for a release of this energy.
Actually, earthquakes do cause beneficial effects too, in addition. The movement of the earth’s surface causes certain adjustments in the surface that are beneficial.
(October 1977)
