Revelation 6:12, 14: And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

Some scholars interpret the great earthquake of the sixth seal as a symbol of political upheavals¹ and revolutions from the past,² rather than a cataclysmic shaking of the entire earth in the future.³ The same scholars view the movement of mountains in Revelation 6:14 as the removal of high places of pagan worship in history.⁴ Contrary to these opinions, verses 12 and 14 in Revelation chapter 6 describe a great earthquake⁵ that will literally occur in the near future at the end of the sixth seal.⁶ This earthquake will be more powerful than any other earthquakes in recent recorded history,⁷ but not as powerful as the three hour earthquake that occurred on the American Continent at the time of the Savior's crucifixion.⁸ The destruction in ancient America is a type for the great destruction that will occur at the Second Coming.⁹ Thus, the earthquake at the end of the sixth seal will have worldwide effects and will be extremely destructive by all modern measures. However, it will only be a foreshock for the more destructive earthquakes that will follow during the seventh seal.

The great earthquake of the sixth seal is the first of three powerful earthquakes that will occur in the future before and at the Second Coming.¹⁰ This first of three earthquakes will be so powerful that every mountain and island [will be] moved out of their places.¹¹ The third and final earthquake during the Third Woe at the Second Coming will be so powerful that entire continents will merge into a single landmass.¹² Some scholars fail to distinguish the three final earthquakes as separate events and incorrectly assume that John describes the same earthquake three times.¹³

The great earthquake at the end of the sixth seal is a prominent sign of the times¹⁴ that will be preceded by many other earthquakes of growing intensity in diverse places.¹⁵ Since the great earthquake of the sixth seal is much less powerful than the third earthquake at the Second Coming, the great earthquake of the sixth seal is properly characterized as merely a foreshock. The third and greatest earthquake of all time will come in the seventh seal when the earth shall tremble and will reel to and fro as a drunken man at the Second Coming.¹⁶ The great earthquake, and the two others after it shall cause groanings in the midst of the earth, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.¹⁷

The great earthquake will also be accompanied by manifestations in heaven¹⁸ that portend the judgments of God.¹⁹ These manifestations include the "testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds," as predicted in Doctrine and Covenants Section 88:89-90.²⁰ In other words, there will be greater storms and more deadly tsunamis than those already observed in recent history.²¹ In short, the worst of the natural disasters in current history will keep getting worse.

Earthquakes and other natural disasters will increase in number and magnitude to show God's power and judgments as the sixth seal comes to a close.²² These calamities will help many people recognize their sinful state²³ and motivate them to repent.²⁴ Unfortunately, most people will not recognize God's purpose behind these disasters,²⁵ and society as a whole will not heed them as a voice of warning.²⁶ Instead, the world at large will attribute the increasing disasters to the effects of natural laws and incorrectly blame them on the effects of mankind's misuse of the planet.²⁷ Relatively few people will repent after God's voice of warning is raised by the final calamities of the sixth seal, and the judgments of the seventh seal will fall upon them in their unrepentant state.²⁸