As New Zealand and other areas in the Pacific Ocean passed the May 21, 6 p.m. local time unscathed, despite predictions by Harold Camping that the hour would signal the beginning of the end of the world, many seemed to breathe a public sigh of relief -- some tongue-in-cheek and others more seriously -- on Twitter and other social media forums.
Although it was not the first time Oakland-based Camping, 89, forecast the apocalypse, this date marked the most attention-grabbing of his doomsday predictions. The unprecedented publicity was spurred by a worldwide $100-million campaign of caravans and billboards, financed by the sale and swap of TV and radio stations.
Camping broadcast what he told viewers would be his final "Open Forum" TV and radio show Thursday night. The Times' Christopher Goffard reported that when Camping, a former engineer, wrapped up the program he's hosted for decades, he shook hands with a couple of crewmen. "I probably won't see you again," he announced.
The map above shows recent seismic activity in the world, as reported by the U.S. Geological Survey on Saturday morning, shortly after midnight in Los Angeles.
Below is a look at what people were saying as the predicted start of the apocalypse came and went.
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