1811 - The end of the world.
The act of experiencing contemporary cataclysms and trials and then forming "end times" conclusions about them is nothing new. In the winter of 1811-1812 an immensely destructive series of earthquakes was experienced in the areas of southern Missouri and Arkansas. Modern seismologists estimate that it may have been 10 times as destructive in force than the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Accounts exist today telling of the ground opening up and spewing sand and sulfur into the air. The sky was darkened and it was hard to breathe. The Missouri river was so churned up by the shocks that it even appeared to flow backwards for a time, destroying islands, and creating new ones. Loss of life on the river is unknown. Thunder and explosions were reported, and even sightings of blue flames spouting out of the ground. There is even an account of a man clinging to a tree while the earth shook, only to have the ground open up beneath him and swallow him along with the tree. It was fel