I've seen several different people propose another scenario:

Scientists believe there have been times in history when the earth's magnetic field has reversed. There is evidence for this from geology. They also believe that the sun has done the same thing. Recently I've seen news articles that suggest both the earth and sun may reverse their magnetic fields in the near future. If so, they expect massive, global earthquakes and other related catastrophes.

In the Bible there have been earthquakes associated with resurrections. It's quite reasonable to believe that the Rapture may be "masked" by a global earthquake. All the righteous dead and the saved living will be presumed to have been lost in the quake. Of course, the "Christians" who are left will say "See? We're still here. There was no Rapture!" And these deluded souls will happily bow to the antichrist, thinking him to be the real Christ. "Anti" includes the idea of impersonation; that is, the antichrist will pretend to be the real Christ. He will bring peace to the world and temporarily end violence in the middle east, and the people will hail him as the savior of the world.