Ancient Earthquake Theories

Humans have been explaining things they don't understand for a long time. It's our way of making sense of things. People tried to explain earthquakes with made up theories because they are such a frequent natural disaster. They can destroy entire towns in a matter of minutes. These myths may seem silly to us, but a long time ago they were the real explanations. West Africa In some cultures, they thought that we were all on a giant's head! The plants and trees were his hair, and the people and animals were the insects who wandered around on his scalp. They believed that whenever the giant sneezed or turned his head suddenly, an earthquake occured. California A long time ago in what is now California, Mexican vaqueros believed that El Diablo (an evil Indian god) was responsible for earthquakes. He would make a giant rip in the ground so that he and his followers didn't have to take the long way around the world when they wanted to cause mischief on Earth. Japan In Japan, they believed that the ground floated on a sea of water and a monstrous catfish named Namazu kept the ground afloat. Whenever the catfish would move or flip around the ground would shake. India Some Indians believed that the earth was supported by four elephants who balanced on the back of turtle who balanced on a cobra. Earthquakes would happen when any of these animals would move. Greece In Greece, they believed that wild animals were trapped in caverns under the ground. Earthquakes were caused by the animals running around trying to escape. California In another part of California, Gabrielino Indians explaned earthquakes with a story. It went like this: Long ago, Great Spirit made a beautiful land that turtles carried on their backs in lakes and rivers. One day the turtles began to argue. Three swam east; the other three swam west. The earth shook and cracked. The turtles could not swim far, because their load was heavy. So they made up. But once in a while, the turtles argue again. Each time, the earth shakes. New Zealand In New Zealand they thought that Mother Earth had a child (the god Ru) inside her womb. Earthquakes were caused by the baby stretching and kicking. China A gigantic frog which carried the world on its back twitched sometimes, producing slight quakes. Peru Whenever a god visited the earth to count how many people were there, his footsteps caused earthquakes. To shorten his task, the people ran out of their houses to shout 'I'm here, I'm here!'. This also kept people safe because they had to run outside of their houses to help the god count faster. Russia A god named Tuli drove a sled with Earth in it, pulled by dogs. When the dogs stopped to scratch at fleas, the earth shook. Ancient Earthquake Theories What's an earthquake? Earthquakes are a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. They are caused by tectonic plates sliding and breaking away from each other. Earthquakes literally shake the ground beneath your feet, and cause massive damage. Why try to explain it? What were the theories? A lot of the myths include restless animals that caused an earthquake every time they moved around. Almost every country had a different explanation, and the theories most likely varied a little between regions in a country.

Here are some of the ancient theories.... Modern Myths About Earthquakes The Earth is Hungry People all over the world believe that when an earthquake happens, a giant hole opens up along the fault, and anybody standing over the fault will fall in and be swallowed. This is a myth. An earthquake may create a shallow crevice, however there's no evidence that anyone's died from such a crack. Earthquake Immunity Some people believe they are protected from a large earthquake because their home is often shaken by small earthquakes that 'let off steam.' This is not true. A moderate earthquake, of magnitude 5.0, releases only one thousandth of the energy of a large magnitude 7.0 earthquake. The moderate quakes may actually be precursors of larger earthquakes. Dogs and other animals can sense when an earthquake is going to strike.
Earthquakes occur during "earthquake weather."
Big earthquakes always occur early in the morning.
Earthquakes are becoming more frequent.
California could fall into the sea because of an earthquake.
Other Myths Fin. By Chris Moutsos Bibliography http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/aware/myths.html
http://science.howstuffworks.com/earthquake.htm
http://www.consrv.ca.gov/index/Earthquakes/Pages/qh_earthquakes_myths.aspx