I recently heard a minister say that earthquakes have some benefits. And I asked myself, How so?  Earthquakes are some of the deadliest natural disasters in the world. These caused-by-nature events can be more devastating than floods, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, storms, and other natural geologic occurrences.

In 2004, the Indian Ocean earthquake killed approximately 230,000 people. Consider Wyoming’s population, which is around 580,000 people—230,000 isn’t a small number by any means. Any loss of life due to a quake is a tragedy because all life is precious.

I think the minister’s point was there’s a good and bad dimension to everything and everybody and earthquakes are no different.

Some people may think the benefit he was talking about had something to do with nature’s way of regulating the population. I’ve never really thought about giving earthquakes any credit except devastation.

But he wasn’t talking about earthquakes and their effects on the environment.

Imagine that! Earthquakes benefit the environment.

Grab a snow globe. When you shake a snow globe, the settled material spreads evenly all about the globe. Like a shaken snow globe, the earthquake shakes the settled surface of the earth. Earthquakes release the energy, pressure, and stresses that have accumulated for long periods. When the earth quakes or vibrates it cycles materials from the earth’s mantle. And the seafloor replenishes itself with new material, which includes thousands of plants and animals.

The quakes redistribute things and bring them from the bottom closer to the surface area. They transfer mineral deposits to fertilize the soil. Quakes press up the land, which helps the growth of greenery. And they make fossil fuels easier to find and mine.

How can something so devastating also be beneficial? To put it simply, everything that’s bad also has some good tenets and vice-versa.

I’m glad Alabama doesn’t experience many earthquakes. To verify, curiosity led me to Google. Our last earthquake was several days ago.

Whaaat?

I don’t know about you, but I was stunned to learn this. When and where did the earthquakes occur?

Alabama’s most recent earthquake occurred in Mentone, Al, at 6:37 A.M. on April 7—that was four days ago. It measured 2.1 on the Ritcher Scale.

By the time you read this post, we may have had more.

Alabama has had 26 earthquakes in the past year. The largest one occurred in Flomaton, Al; it measured 3.8 on the Richter Scale.

The earth isn’t inactive; things are constantly shifting and moving. Seismologists state that earthquakes happen all the time. Quakes with a magnitude of 2.5 or less are rarely felt but are detected by seismographs.

The only quake I’ve felt is one from a thunderbolt.

No need to say EARTHQUAKES BEGONE!

There must be a release for pent-up pressure.

You know, no one can stop Mother Nature.

We reap the good and bad of earthquakes.

Be safe.