There are, as it were, an outer circle, an inner circle, and a core in the structure of this passage. The beginning (Revelation 9:1–2) and end (Revelation 9:11) of this passage form the outer circle (it gives details concerning the bottomless pit), the verses adjacent to them (Revelation 9:3–5 and Revelation 9:7–10) form the inner circle (it provides details about the locusts/scorpions/horses) and the core (Revelation 9:6) relates people’s response to the creatures arising from the bottomless pit. This chiastic structure makes clear that the central point of this passage concerning the fifth trumpet is people. These same people, it should be remembered, spark the prayers of the saints in Revelation 8:3–4.
1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.