The descriptions of destruction move from the center (Zarahemla) to the eastern border (Moroni and Moronihah) to a list of cities that now appear to be more in the south. The declaration is intended to show that the destruction is over all the land. The imagery of burial continues both with water and earth. Where God had declared at the beginning of this litany that the people were still to repent, the emphasis on these particular cities is that they were destroyed because of their rejection of the prophets, and of the true way.