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CHICAGO EARTHQUAKE VISION

 Chuck Youngbrandt, 1973

 

In 1973 the Lord gave me a vision of a massive earthquake striking the Midwest U.S.A. centering in Chicago, Illinois on some day in July in the future. This destructive earthquake led directly to an all out nuclear attack on the U.S. by Russia, China with Japan and the start of World War III. In that vision I saw a huge jet airliner on a glide path to land at O’Hare Airport north of Chicago [after the quake] when Lake Michigan roared out of its lake bed and swept over the city in what was a wall of water 100 feet+ high. The huge jet airliner turned on its jets full blast and black smoke poured out of its engines as the pilot frantically worked to pull up and away from the wall of water that was destroying Chicago.

I was puzzled at the time [July 2, 1973] because the aircraft I saw was a massive two stories high, unlike anything I’d ever seen. [In 1973 the Jumbo Jet had not yet arrived, it was being designed].

While the Jumbo Jet [747-400] with its two story bubble in the front of the aircraft looks “like” what I saw in 1973, this new airliner, the A3XX, shown in the June 24, 2000 newsclip [The Dallas Morning News, Saturday, June 24th 2000, 2F, Airbus gives green light to superjumbo jetliner] “is” 2 stories high and looks more like what I saw in the 1973 vision.

I make these observations, as they surface, only to keep track of developments that tell us we are entering “that time period” when such aircraft will exist. According to this news article the AEXX superjumbo jets will be ready for delivery to airlines by the year 2005.

This is the vision of the earthquake that swept me up from July 2, 1973 to July 5, 1973. I didn’t know why I’d seen it or what I was to do with this vision… I typed up my notes, filed them, and tried to forget the vision, albeit unsuccessfully.

First, I saw the Chicago earthquake, then an overview of the mid-western and north-eastern United States. I saw smoldering ruins from nuclear attack. When looking at the Midwest, I saw caked, drying mud and ruins everywhere. However, many small cities and towns were intact. I saw many injured people. Many were hospitalized. Confusion and fear gripped the land.

Then I saw a great Russian fleet steaming out past Western Europe towards the United States. Western Europe cringed in fear, for God’s Spirit held them and they were terrified to move or to intervene. I saw a lone but great United States Aircraft carrier capsized in a bay on the East Coast, half sunk in the mud. Then I saw the invasion, at the Bay of Delaware, and on the coast of Virginia.

THE START OF THE VISIONS...

It was a beautiful sunny, warm day at a around 10:30 am, and I was reading my bible in the lobby during my coffee break. I had a feeling of uneasiness all morning -- jittery with no apparent reason. The tenseness that plagued me made me eager to seek consolation in the Word, which I knew would relax me. I had been reading for a moment or so when an odd thing happened. The sunlight which lit up the room suddenly seemed brighter than normal, but I dismissed this and continued reading. I then glanced outside again, and noticed something strange. Although I could clearly see fluffy clouds in that morning sky, I also saw simultaneously a clear blue sky with no clouds and a much brighter sunlight. Then I heard a very sharp, loud, and terrible cracking noise, and was aware that the ground was moving under me. The building all around me was wavering; the wall split at some points, and I heard a deep rumbling sound. It was an earthquake!

I looked around, amazed, while the chandelier pulled out of the ceiling and crashed to the floor. As the walls swayed, the two-story high windows exploded into thousands of glass fragments as their frames twisted and bent. The outside pillars around the door fell almost immediately, and the walls themselves were breaking up with many loud, snapping, and crackling sounds. A piece of ceiling about four feel long fell to the floor, crushing a chair. Everything was weaving so violently that I couldn't move. I heard a woman screaming. I was surprised that the building was holding up so well; for the earth was moving suddenly, sharply, and fast.

Suddenly, it stopped! I shook my head in unbelief and looked, seeing the wreckage and clouds of dust super-imposed on that beautiful day. In the next moment, I saw only the lobby as it had been before, untouched, with no sign of the earthquake. Bewildered, I tried to dismiss it all as my imagination, because I didn't know what else to do with the experience. I left the lobby and returned to work.

This experience, it turned out, was just the opening revelation of many by the Holy Spirit. On that first day and for days to come, in various placed, at various times, the Lord continued to reveal to me the earthquake happening over and over again. Each time I saw that bright clear-blue sky with no clouds and the bright sunlight. I heard that same sharp cracking noise which sounded so fierce, so deadly, that one could almost taste it; then came the fast and sudden movement of the earth. At that time I did not know what was happening nor understand much, except that I not only saw the earthquake and heard it, but I also felt it and was aware of what people were thinking of at that time. I could even smell a difference in the air. As the days passed and the revelation unfolded, I began to suffer from emotional shock and pure horror. As the revelations all happened over an extended period of time, I will share them with you as it was given to me by the Holy Spirit.

It was now lunch time that same day. Everyone else was eating and I was at my desk covering the phones. My desk sat next to a window that faced east, overlooking the southern end of a small lake (called O'Hara Lake), past sister buildings built around the lakefront. Just east of the office buildings was the Tri-State Tollway and east of the Tri-State Tollway stood the Xerox factory and what looks like a water tower with the Xerox name on it; beyond Xerox one could see woods. It all started again. That day was super-imposed on the day I was in, and the prelude of bright sunlight, a sky with no clouds, and the sharp crack of the earth.

\With that, the whole building began to move under me. I watched a crack start and spread from the other end of the office to my area in the twinkling of an eye. The plaster wallboards popped, crumbled, and came undone as the walls buckled. The floor on my end sagged down about five or six feet, sending file cabinets and furniture sliding. Again I heard the screams and felt the panic and terror of the quake in others. I heard a thunderous roar in the tumbling earth, and noted that the movement was east to northwest in direction. I looked out of my window, and saw the Xerox water tower swaying back and forth, then the base gave way and the tower fell. I then saw flames rise from the Xerox building itself as the huge crumbling water tower hit the roof. In a few moments, the earth stopped shaking and I was struck by the utter quiet now of this future day, for I saw no living being at all, not even birds. Smoke arose from the Xerox building like a black pillar. The water in O'Hara Lake sloshed out of the lake in massive waves and then ran back into the lake bed.

I knew this was once again a vision of some future event, a massive earthquake. By this time I was emotionally caught up by the experience, but who could I tell? Who would believe me? At this point, I was the only one who had seen it, and I had no understanding what the purpose of the vision was.

It was now 3:00 pm, that same day. Again the "prelude" of the bright sunlight. This time the vision began where the last one left off. The destruction lay on every hand. I could literally feel the deadly quiet of that future day. Then the silence was broken by a terrible and different roaring sound that sent shivers down my spine. I turned to look out my window, my eyes glanced over the ruined terrain and up toward the woods beyond the Xerox building. There, over the tree tops, I was in the far distance a massive wall of water, clear and blue, that was moving westerly. It did not seem to be coming at this place, but seemed to be moving west and south. Yes, the wall of water was definitely south of my location in Des Plaines, Illinois. A wall of water from Lake Michigan, the roar so thunderous, so ominous, that it made me tremble. It was at this point that I realized that I was witnessing the destruction of Chicago by a monstrous earthquake, followed by a huge, destructive wall of water.

Later I was driving from Des Plaines to Villa Park, Illinois. As I drove toward the Tri-State Tollway, I clearly saw the aftermath of the quake-homes destroyed or heavily damaged, roads broken up, underpasses collapsed, trees uprooted and lying everywhere. On the Tri-State moving south toward the O’Hare Airport exit and nearing the Oasis underpass, I again felt the prelude getting my attention. The earth rumbled and roared as before, and I watched from about 300 feet away as a huge section of underground granite or similar material just jutted through the Tri-State road and plowed through the Oasis. Its upward movement stopped about 20-30 feet above the roof of the Oasis; all told, the wall of stone appeared to be about four or five stories high. The massive ridge of stone that jutted in the air appeared to be sliding east-west in movement, moving back and forth. I seemed to know that south of that ridge of stone the ground had dropped much lower than the ground on the north side of the ridge and facture. I seemed to know then and now that this was the fault line.

When the wall of stone rose through the Tri-State and through the Oasis, it happened so fast and caught me so much by surprise that I jammed on my brakes to avoid hitting that wall of stone before I realized that it was only a vision not the real thing. Past the O’Hare Oasis going south on the Tri-State there is an air bridge. I clearly saw this completely destroyed after the earthquake. In every direction I could see raging fires, pillars of black smoke, wrecked houses and factories. The destruction was so great that it defies description. I came upon a building, 15 stories high standing on the east side of the Tri-State, called the O’Hare-port Hotel of North Lake. I saw the wall of water move over the city, and when it hit that 15-story building, the water was just above the roof of that hotel.

In that vision of a future day, I also saw a jet airliner coming in for a landing at O’Hare airport just at the time this wall of water made its appearance. The pilot also noticed it and from the black smoke I saw coming out of the jet exhausts, I knew he was accelerating to get up and out. I wondered where the aircraft could land. I thought of Milwaukee, but then I saw that this city, too, was flooded and being destroyed. I thought of St. Louis and saw it also broadly flooded and drowned out of existence. It was then that I began to realize some of the real scope of this future destruction, and only later realized that there has been no parallel in history for what is apparently coming upon us.

I noticed that the wall of water was deepest through the heart of Chicago and that further south the depth tapered off, and further north also it was not nearly as deep.

I noticed the overpasses and underpasses will collapse, and be buried and blocked; that roads will be buckled and broken in so many places that all traffic will be at a standstill. Escape after the quake, if one survives it, will prove to be almost impossible.

I suddenly saw the Loop area in a vision. By the way the shadows fell, it seemed to be twelve noon. I could see traffic moving through the downtown area; however, my attention was focused on the base of a huge building. Again came the prelude and the earthquake. Autos were literally flung off the streets into buildings by the violent movements of the earth. A horrible chorus of creaking, scraping, and grating sounds filled the air, not unlike masts of great sailing ships in a storm, as the skyscrapers swayed to and fro. The giant building began to shear off from its base about 20 feet from the sidewalk but surprised me by not falling. Brick, stone, glass, debris of every sort fell into the streets below like hail driven by a storm wind. As the quake ended, I heard many voices speaking of their ‘great luck to be alive.’ Many awaited rescuer parties, but none were giving thanks to God.

Suddenly my view shifted to the lake front. After the earthquake ended, the waters of Lake Michigan swiftly calmed down; lying still in a strange and ghostly silence. The calm water then seemed to tremble or beadup, and as I watched, the level of the water began to drop quickly. There was a ‘whooshing’ sound as the water literally disappeared in a northeasterly direction, leaving only some large puddles, here and there.

A period of time then passed in that same day; but how much time I do not know. From a vantage point at street level in the Loop, I suddenly heard a terrible roaring sound. The sunlight was totally blotted out and everything was engulfed in a suffocating darkness. Later I was to see an aerial view of Chicago’s downtown area, when the returning wall of water from Lake Michigan would crash into the Loop with unbelievable force, surrounding the greater skyscrapers still standing. They would withstand the waters for a moment; then they would slowly twist around to fall and vanish forever in the churning waters. I clearly received an impression that the buildings north of the Loop, [at least past the fault line] would survive somehow. The wall of water was not a wave, not a tidal force, nor a crest -- it was the whole of Lake Michigan -- moving in a massive body westward with irresistible, terrifying unbelievable, force. Everything in its path would be pulverized — totally obliterated. Although the water was over 15 stories high [using the Eisenhower Expressway as a central measuring point], the depth of the water dropped sharply once one traveled — 12 miles to the south or north — however, the shallowest I was shown was still about 20 feet of water.

Since 1973, we have realized that the earthquake will cause a geographic depression in the land, turning much of the city into a cause-way for this flood of water; while in places north of the fault line, some land areas will be elevated above the water. The Lord showed me that Calumet City, Illinois; Hammond, Indiana; East Chicago, Indiana and other places on the southern tip of Lake Michigan will be under as much as 60 feet of water. At Lake Michigan’s southern tip, I saw a vast plain of water, with no buildings showing above the water’s surface. But on July 5, 1973 in Des Plaines, I saw the water up over the speed limit sign on Ballard Road, and the water there appeared to be at least five feet deep, or deeper. The Tri-State bridge on Ballard Road had collapsed, and I saw cars piled up on either side, with water running through the broken concrete-like rapids as the water surged west. Here, the Tri-State mound or road was higher than the water.

July 4, 1973

I was driving east on the Eisenhower Expressway. Again I saw the aftermath of the earthquake. Autos were piled up bumper to bumper, exit ramps were either broken up or blocked, bridges were down everywhere. It was a warm day and a number of drivers were blowing their horns [which didn’t much help the chaotic situation], when suddenly the wall of water appeared in the east. Some people just froze, most ran to the right or left trying to hid or escape. One man got out of his car and knelt down to pray. He was the only smart one, for he would meet his Maker on his knees. The water engulfed them all. Houses were pulverized into nothing in an instant. Concrete and asphalt were peeled back, the road bed was swept away in a moment, and then I saw 10 or 20 feet of earth flushed away in a instant.

In a nearby cemetery, I watched the headstones, the dirt, the concrete boxes and the coffins as well as the clay beneath them, torn quickly and successively away by the force of the water. Then the water moved over me, and my view shifted to the top of the water. There was that man who had knelt to pray; bobbing on the surface like a cork, unharmed. The Lord God saved him right out of the midst of destruction, because the man trusted in Him.

Then suddenly, just after the terrible earthquake in the Midwest, I saw ministers, priests, elders and Christians who had rejected the prophecy… these now seemed like dead men — all their strength was gone, and many fell on their faces before God crying for forgiveness.

During the first of the visions I was a stunned observer, hardly believing what I saw; but July 4, 1973, the reality of this future disaster reached my heart. I thought of all the people who would be destroyed, and I shuddered at the carnage. Then, for the first time since July 2, I turned to the Lord God in my spirit and asked: “Oh Father, will it be? must it be? might it be avoided?” In that very instant of prayer, I was swept into the Spirit and found myself over looking the whole city of Chicago. An angel of the Lord had his hand on me; below I saw the massive-saving Hand of God placed between the city and the lake, and I heard this loud, strong voice say, “This will I do if My children turn back to me!”

Later, I remembered that throughout human history, no major natural disaster ever came upon man without man having first been warned by prophets of the Lord God. Now, by the Holy Spirit I saw an old colored man with a bell in his hand moving through the black neighborhoods, ringing the bell and calling the people to repentance. The old man was cursed by many and spit upon. I saw him crying, crying for those hard hearted people. At one point a band of young toughs with murderous intent circled him and closed in on him from every side. A band of angels appeared about him and the would-be killers fled in fear. Those who would kill him could not, for he was commissioned to warn many. At the time, my heart went out to him, for his mission was so difficult, but also rewarding, for I saw many repenting of their sins.

Though I’ve never met him in the flesh, in my vision the old black man was striking in appearance. He was almost bald except for a patch of white hair on the sides and back of his head. He was cocoa-colored, his eyes brown and full of kindness and love, and he had the kind of Christ-presence that makes a person strong, resilient and impressive. His face was lovely to look upon — full of years and blessed by the grace of Jesus Christ. He was wearing a cape of light gray. In his right hand he held a brass bell with a wooden handle and in his left hand, and old black leather-bound Bible. Although he was old and moved slowly, his voice was clear, distinct and strong. I heard him say ‘The Hand of God’s wrath is upon thee; turn from thy wickedness and repent or the wrath of God will soon fall upon you and destroy you for your evil ways. Hear this, for it is from the Lord thy God …” So it is, so it shall be-for now I know and see many prophets bringing ‘final warnings.’ Some are killed, some are injured, the warning is delivered. Let those who hear, heed the warning.

July 3rd and 4th, 1973

 

After the wall of water had engulfed the city and swept it away, I observed what seemed to be an endless flow of water moving steadily westward. Because I had seen St. Louis swamped and drowned out of existence by a broad body of water, I assumed that the water would connect somewhere with the Mississippi River, and move southward, causing the Mississippi River to swell greatly beyond its banks. Again, I watched the water roar westward for days; I lost track of how long it moved like this, but was aware that the larger part, if not the whole of Lake Michigan was emptying out. Farther from the city, to the west, I did see areas that were above water and intact except for earthquake damage, and some years after these first visions was able to identify the Chicago suburb of Woodridge as one of those areas that will be partly or wholly above the flooding waters. I did see ditches here and there, with water running over them, and in the ditches, I observed masses of canned goods stripped of labels but largely intact, in the water and mud.

I also saw the bodies of the dead, human and animal, floating everywhere. Dismembered bodies covered in the disaster area; thankfully, most were buried in the churning tide of mud that moved beneath the water. When the water subsided, I could see corpses caught in the branches of uprooted trees through all the widespread wreckage. When the water actually subsides, after the real earthquake, we will view a vast mud plain with islands of refuge. The stench of rotting flesh, decomposing vegetation and the stinking stagnant water in the hot, humid weather will be unbearable.

Almost immediately after the worst part of the destruction, in a vision, I saw flying overhead U.S. aircraft of various types dropping supplies by parachute to stranded survivors. Later, the airplanes stopped coming, but I did not then know why.

After the flooding waters passed a given area, I saw survivors coming out of the water, some adults and many children, all injured and half naked or altogether naked and in shock. They were received by certain Christian communities; clothed, tended to and later given places to live. I was not clearly aware of it at the time, but today know that these ‘communities’ or isles, spared from the wastes destruction will be peopled by Christians who have prepared to some extent. When I saw so many young children, I couldn’t help but wonder how a three or four-year old child could survive the waters, when their parents did not. The Lord would later tell me, “Because they are innocent.”

I also observed others emerging from among the survivors; those I would later identify as ‘marauders.’ These men, hoping for gain, would search among the corpses, taking rings, gold and other jewelry and even look for gold fillings in teeth. They were armed, and when they came upon the surviving communities, would take them by force, raping torturing and killing as they wished. With no government or police in organized operation, these men followed their basic natures. I realized then and now that the Christians would need to be prepared to defend themselves. My knowledge seemed to indicate that it would be almost a year before troops arrived. When they finally came they were bearded, tired, dirty, hungry and tattered. They quickly disarmed the marauding men, killing all of them on the spot, then marched on. That sequence of events puzzled me at the time of the vision — I did not understand why U.S. troops would be on foot; why they would be so ragged, and why they shot the marauders immediately, with no hint of due process of law.

I looked over the Chicago land area after the waters subsided and the mud dried; and I was astonished. Lake Michigan was gone, only a hilly lake bed remained to be seen. Mud everywhere-dried mud stretched over a vast expanse of what was once a great city. Bleached bones of the long-dead protruded in places. The toll of the dead was beyond estimation. There were no trees, no grass, just a dead silence. To the north I saw ruins of buildings. In the northwest areas here and there, were desolate skeletons of homes and buildings.

I arrived at some conclusions about this future disaster, from what I was allowed to see in those July days of 1973. The day of the earthquake would be bright and warm with no clouds. The earthquake would strike late in the morning, very near noon — I was sure it would take place in the summer months. One impression hit me; one should watch for birds — when they go, the quake is near. I felt that the disasters would strike on a weekend, but of this I was not sure. The Lord did not give me a precise date at that time, but I knew ‘it is near but not yet.’ I noticed after the flooded land dried, that the entire area was engulfed in a dead calm. No wind blew; and with the heat and the stench, the air seemed to turn blue-green. A few survivors hid in closed rooms to escape the stench. The stillness was awesome. It seemed as if the whole world was holding its breath.

On July 5, 1973, I could bear no more of the vision and cried unto God to take it from me, and He lifted it from my seeing. Later I turned to the Lord and asked Him when all of this would happen. I was given a vision of the number 17, made up of what looked like fluffy white clouds. I did not know if that meant 17 days, weeks, months, years, or centuries, I had no understanding.

Over the years since 1973, the Lord by His Holy Spirit has continued to give us a deeper understanding of this disaster of disasters. Today, we know that Chicago will be the center of an earthquake that will have an approximate destruction radius of 300 miles — we believe it will be the worst earthquake in recorded human history. The cities that will be the worst flattened by this earthquake will be Chicago, Illinois; St. Paul, Minnesota; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; St. Louis, Missouri; Louisville, Kentucky; Indianapolis, Indiana; Detroit, Michigan; Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio; and Kansas City, Missouri. Southern Ontario, Canada and parts of southwestern Quebec, Canada will be obliterated by the waters of the Great Lakes as they ‘backwash’ and just before they return as a wall over Chicago and other areas. The Lord by the Holy Spirit revealed that the sound of the ‘cracking’ of the ground or fault will be so fierce that windows will be shattered in Des Moines, Iowa, some 316 miles from Chicago. When the earthquake hits Chicago, people will be knocked off their feet in Detroit and trees will fall out of the ground in St. Louis, Missouri, some 269 miles from Chicago. The sound of the crack will be heard as far away as Denver, Colorado – literally, the whole continental mass will tremble.