Natural Phenomena

Earthquake omens

chitangganhe.jpg
Pond dried up!

On May 5, the Chutian Metropolis Daily, newspaper based in Hubei Province, reported about a pond that suddenly "disappeared."

On the morning of April 26, water in a big pond in Enshi, a city about 400 km away from the provincial capital Wuhan, suddenly whirled downward, accompanied by a loud noise. Within four hours, about 80 thousand tons of water drained away.

The picture above shows the dried-up pond. A second photo shows a farmer holding a big fish that he caught from the drained pond.

chitangganhe2.jpg
Big fish

According to local document records, the phenomenon has occurred several times over the past decades. The pond drained in 1949, when the People's Republic of China was established, in 1976, the year when the Tangshan Earthquake caused over a quarter of a million deaths, the Cultural Revolution ended, and Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong both passed away, and again in 1989, the year of the Tian'anmen student demonstrations.

On May 10, the West China Metropolis Daily, a Sichuan-based newspaper, reported that masses of toads were migrating from their usual habitats in Mianyang, Sichuan Province. Lots of them were run over by passing vehicles as they attempted to cross the streets. The newspaper cited the director of the local Forestry Department, who said that the phenomena was entirely normal and in fact indicated that the local environment was improving.

CHANCHU2.jpg
Toads on the road

The toads shown in the photo here are from Jiangsu, where their appearance is not normal at all. They're reportedly looking for a more habitable environment because their former living quarters are short of oxygen.

To predict an earthquake is still extremely tricky for modern science, even more so when social consequences have to be considered. But after every disaster, in hindsight there seems to have been signs that passed unheeded.

Are they total coincidences, or warnings from nature?

Links and Sources
There are currently 7 Comments for Earthquake omens.

Comments on Earthquake omens

Signs of nature for sure.

Total coincidences, as even a brief perusal of the literature will tell you.

The human brain is a ret-con machine.

Burma Junta kills monks = Cyclone

Chinese kill monks = Earthquake

Buddha is pissed off...

US elects George Bush = K...

Suddenly the joke is not funny anymore, eh?

@Micah: Couldn't agree with you more. What? You think I'm a "W" lover? Sorry to take the air out of your smug sails...

we cant go back to yesterday.can we??
omens ...omens

Micah Sittig got pwned. LOL.

Post a comment

All comments are moderated and subject to review by Danwei contributors and editors, but well-grounded and articulate comments will be published regardless of which way they lean. Because comments published on any website ultimately contribute to the character of that website, we may decline to publish comments that are irrelevant, redundant, or that do not adhere to generally accepted standards of courtesy; if you are looking for a fight, there are plenty of other venues available online.


Some useful html: <b>bold</b>, <i>italic</i>,
<a href="http://www.danwei.org">link</a>

Media Partners
Visit these sites for the latest China news
090609guardian2.png 090609CNN3.png
China Media Timeline
Major media events over the last three decades
Danwei Model Workers
laomo2008fpA.jpg
Recommended blogs and new media
Books on China
AXL091030storiesforthcoming.jpg
Princess Der Ling: Two Years in the Forbidden City: Two years in the Forbidden City is largely a reminiscence of the minutiae of life for one of history's most powerful women, by one of her court attendants, a Manchu noble's daughter by the name of Der Ling.
Carl Crow's The Long Road Back to China: In 1939 Carl Crow - an American journalist, advertising executive and author who had lived in Shanghai for 25 years until forced out by the Japanese - travelled up the Burma Road from Rangoon to Chongqing on assignment for Liberty magazine - 'the most interesting assignment I have ever been given'.
Front Page of the Day
A different newspaper every weekday
From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ New Weekly: Do Chinese kids know anything about traditonal Chinese culture? (2004.06): Q: Do you know what China's four great inventions are? Paper, printing, the compass and gunpowder 49.3% know all four, 37.3% get one or more wrong, 13.3% don't know at all (2004.06.12)
+ The horrors of SMS messaging (2007.09): Naraka 19 (地狱第19层), based on the Cai Jun (蔡骏) novel, gets neutered by SARFT.
+ China's illegal yellow press (2005.05): On the left is the front page of 'Military News', a newspaper without masthead, contact phone number or any kind of publication licence (required by Chinese law). The paper was purchased on the Beijing subway for two yuan, which is relatively expensive, as most of the city's daily newspapers cost only half a yuan.
Danwei Archives
Danwei Feeds
Via Feedsky rsschiclet2.png (on the mainland)
or Feedburner rsschiclet.gif (blocked in China)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Main feed: Main posts (FB has top links)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Top Links: Links from the top bar
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Jobs: Want ads
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Digest: Updated daily, 19:30