The destruction in the land southward is paralleled to destruction in the land northward. The changes were massive, so much so that “the whole face of the land was changed.” This phrase is important because it clearly states that there were massive changes. Were these changes sufficiently massive that we should be unable to locate the Book of Mormon in the real world? Sorenson provides the following answer to just that question:
“Mormon and Moroni both lived and wrote after the catastrophic changes. They had no trouble identifying locations they personally knew in their lifetimes with places referred to by Alma or Helaman before the catastrophe. Nothing about the pre-crucifixion geography seems to have puzzled them. The volume itself says that the changes at the Savior’s death were mainly to the surface. Bountiful was still in place, its temple still there, when the resurrected Savior appeared (3 Nephi 11:1). Zarahemla was rebuilt on the burned ruin of the former city (4 Nephi 1:8). The narrow pass was still in its key position during the final battles as it had been more than four centuries before. The River Sidon ran the same course, and Ramah/Cumorah, the landmark hill, presided unchanged over the annihilation of its second people. Thus the record itself gives no justification for supposing that the form or nature of the land changed in any essentials, despite the impressive destruction that signaled the Savior’s death. Nor is there reliable evidence from the earth sciences to lead us to suppose major changes took place.” (John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1985], 45.)
Geological: In addition to the thunderings and lightnings that have already been described, Nephi adds that this event was accompanied by “tempest and the whirlwinds.” In particular, these winds are said to be part of the cause of the great destruction.
“Large explosive volcanic eruptions are often accompanied by violent winds and whirlwinds. The winds are caused by the movement of clouds of volcanic ash, either hugging the ground as hot, fast-moving, enormously destructive clouds called nuées ardentes, or as blast clouds, moving at even higher velocities. For example, during the eruption of Mount St. Helens, the explosion was “almost beyond comprehension, five hundred times greater than the twenty-kiloton atomic bomb that fell on Hiroshima” and the blast cloud is estimated to have moved at velocities of over three hundred miles per hour.” (Bart J. Kowallis. “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi.” BYU Studies. 37, no. 3, 1997-98, pp. 148).
The massive and rapid movements of air certainly describe the tempests, particularly since these are tempests that are not associated with rain. The idea that there might be whirlwinds associated with a volcanic eruption is less well attested than the powerfully accelerated ash clouds, but they are nevertheless a “fairly common feature of many explosive volcanic eruptions.” (Bart J. Kowallis. “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi.” BYU Studies. 37, no. 3, 1997-98, pp. 152).