The destruction at Christ’s death was devastating. How long did the calamitous forces of nature last? Samuel’s prophecy said that the darkness was to last for three days (8:3), and the thick darkness, which could have been the result of something like volcanic action, actually lasted for three days (8:23). There was also, “a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder” (8:6). The people experienced “exceedingly sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land” (8:7). Cities were destroyed—some were sunk into the ocean, roads were damaged, and “rocks were rent in twain” (8:18). Much of this, of course, had been foretold by Zenos (see 1 Nephi 19:10–12), but that would have made it all the more tragic and horrific.
The text in 3 Nephi 8:19 gives us some idea as to how frightening it would have been to live through these cataclysmic events, explaining that they “did last for about the space of three hours; and it was said by some that the time was greater; nevertheless, all these great and terrible things were done in about the space of three hours.” The earthquake and volcanic activity lasted for three solid hours! The terror must have been overwhelming.
Think about the worst natural disaster that you have experienced or seen reported on the news. Think of the pictures of wreckage and carnage caused by one storm, tornado, volcano or earthquake that typically strike suddenly and last only a few minutes or hours. How do those experiences compare with what we read about here that went on for 72 hours? It must have been unimaginably traumatic, disorienting, and frightening.
Book of Mormon Central, “What Caused the Darkness and Destruction in the 34th Year? (3 Nephi 8:20),” KnoWhy 197 (September 28, 2016).