Q: Was there an earthquake when Jesus was crucified?
A: The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 27, mentions that an earthquake coincided when Jesus was crucified:
“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.”
The latest investigation, reported in International Geology Review, focused on earthquake activity at the Dead Sea, located 13 miles from Jerusalem.
The study carried out by Supersonic Geophysical and Research Center for Geosciences revealed that at least two major earthquakes affected the core: a widespread earthquake in 31 B.C. and a seismic event that happened sometime between the years 26 and 36.
Geologists say Jesus, as described in the New Testament, was most likely crucified on Friday, April 3, in the year 33.
In terms of the earthquake data alone, Jefferson Williams of Supersonic Geophysical and his team acknowledge that the seismic activity associated with the crucifixion could refer to “an earthquake that occurred sometime before or after the crucifixion and was in effect ‘borrowed’ by the author of the Gospel of Matthew, and a local earthquake between 26 and 36 A.D. that was sufficiently energetic to deform the sediments of Ein Gedi but not energetic enough to produce a still extant and extra-biblical historical record.”
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