But that didn't stop Victor Frasno from trying to cross a reservoir to 'get to God' moments before the first earthquakes of 'Judgement Day' were supposed to strike.

The 25-year-old from Florida, who had been staying with family in California, eventually drowned in the 80-acre reservoir in Contra Loma Regional Park, Antioch on Friday night, investigators said.

Frasno, who was described by investigators as very religious, had also tried to pull his older brother into the water after saying he had been 'chosen'.

The 27-year-old, who has not been identified, managed to wriggle free before scrambling up the bank to get help.

He last saw Frasno thrashing about while quoting from the Bible.

Authorities pulled Frasno's body out of the lake just before midnight on Friday. Judgement Day was pegged for the next day based on a prediction by Oakland-based evangelist Harold Camping and his Family Radio group.

The world kept turning, but investigators believe the frenzy that had been whipped up around the so-called 'rapture' with a global advertising campaign and vast media coverage may have helped to push Frasno over the edge.

'I believe it probably had something to do with the rapture because this wasn't his normal behaviour,' Detective Holly Sontag, told the Contra Costa Times. Read More