Earth-quake. Earthquakes, more or less violent, are of frequent occurrence in Palestine. The most remarkable occurred in the reign of Uzziah. Zechariah 14:5. From Zechariah 14:4, we are led to infer that a great convulsion took place at this time, in the Mount of Olives, the mountain being split so as to leave a valley between its summit. An earthquake occurred at the time of our Saviour's crucifixion. Matthew 27:51-54.
Earthquakes are not unfrequently accompanied by fissures of the earth's surface; instances of this are recorded in connection with the destruction of Korah and his company, Numbers 16:32, and, at the time of our Lord's death, Matthew 27:51, the former may be paralleled by a similar occurrence at Oppido in Calabria, A.D. 1783, where the earth opened to the extent of five hundred feet and to a depth of more than two hundred feet.