Judgement Day passes, world did not end, travel safe for most

Saturday May 21st was Judgement Day signaling the end of the planet Earth according Family Radio’s Harold Camping who said that the Bible guaranteed it. Here now on Sunday we see that the world is still spinning and there are few signs of it’s end. But while some weather-related events did occur, the end of the world does not appear to be imminent.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck near New Zealand’s Kermadec Islands. Camping had predicted that ‘Rapture’ would begin with an earthquake in New Zealand.

Also, a magnitude 3.6 quake hit the San Francisco Bay Area at 7:05 p.m. local time on Saturday but emergency officials said there were no reports of serious damage or injury.

The best possible evidence for believers in the “end of the world” scenario came from Iceland.As if on queue, Iceland’s most active volcano began erupting Saturday. Sending billows of ash 11 miles into the air the eruption forced closing of Iceland’s main international airport to commercial air traffic among other travel delays.

“The ash is covering up all of Iceland,” Hjordís Gudmundsdottir, a spokeswoman for Isavia, Iceland’s air navigation services provider told the New York Times. “We are trying to identify some holes in it and to use them to allow some flights, but it’s not looking very good right now.”

The strong eruption sent ash into the second layer of Earth’s atmosphere, the Stratosphere where it can be carried around the globe, blocking out light and creating flight risks for air travelers.

As for Harold Camping and his thoughts? Hard to say. The self-proclaimed prophet was silent on Judgment Day, staying at home with the shades drawn.

Flickr photo by btaylor