You seem to be suggesting that Lot's wife didn't really turn into a pillar of salt, but that she died of fright. It seems just as likely to me that the saying was derived from the 'actual' event. A person who becomes figuratively 'petrified', as opposed to the physical reality of Lots wife becoming petrified into a pillar.
When I listen to Dutchsinse, I can't deny his observational accuracy. But I also find his theories on what is happening beneath the crust speculative. That said, there is a lot of speculation in the accepted scientific account also.
My conclusion is to take his science with a grain of salt, but pay close attention to his results. One doesn't need to understand the core of the earth to observe how pressure and movements transfer across the plates.