Scholars and geologists widely agree that the 3 days of darkness in 3 Nephi 8 could only be caused by the ash cloud created by a large volcanic eruption. The full range of destructive events requires both a volcano and an earthquake along a strike-slip fault. Such a fault system exists in Veracruz, Mexico, with a volcano nearby which likely erupted in the first century AD. Further evidence points to widespread volcanic activity in Mesoamerica around the first century AD, and ice core samples confirm a volcanic eruption somewhere in the world very close (ca. AD 30–40) to the time of Christ's death.