MYTHS, LEGENDS AND FOLKLORE ABOUT EATHQUAKE

RUSSIA

• GODS AND GODESSES RELATED
• ANIMAL RELATED
• VARIOUS MYTHS AND LEGENDS
• PHILOSOPHER'S VIEW
• COMMON BELIEFS
• PHILIPPINE MYTHS

COMMON BELIEFS

ABOUT EARTHQUAKE

THE SWALLOWING EARTH

ANIMALS CAN

“SENSE” EARTHQUAKE

Some people believed that they are protected from a large earthquake because their place and home are shaken only by small tremors or earthquake.

The common misconception that earthquakes occur during hot and dry weather dates to the ancient Greeks.

People around the world believe that when an earth quake occurs a chasm opens up along the fault.

Changes in animal behavior sometimes have been observed prior to earthquakes, but that behavior is not consistent, and sometimes there's no perceptible behavior change prior to an earthquake.

EARTHQUAKE IMMUNITY

EARTHQUAKE WEATHER

DOORWAY IS THE SAFEST PLACE

WE HAVE GOOD BUILDING CODES, SO WE MUST HAVE GOOD BUILDINGS

PEOPLE CAN STOP EARTHQUAKES

That's true only if you live in an unreinforced adobe home. In a modern structure the doorway is no stronger than the rest of the building.

We cannot prevent earthquakes from happening (or stop them once they’ve started)

That's true -- provided you're talking about buildings constructed under current building codes.

PEOPLE CAN PREDICT EARTHQUAKES

THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT EARTHQUAKES

Earthquake prediction is the Holy Grail for earthquake scientists, but there currently is no accepted method to accomplish the goal of predicting the time, place and magnitude of an impending quake.

It's true that earthquakes can't be stopped, but you can be prepared.

SCANDINAVIA

The trickster god Loki was punished for killing Baldur by being tied to a rock. Where Overhead, Skaði placed a venomous snake which dropped poison onto Loki’s head. Sigyn, Loki’s wife, sat with him holding a basin beneath the dripping venom, yet when the basin became full, she carried the poison away; and during this time the poison dripped on to Loki, causing him to writhe with such violence that all of the earth shook from the force, resulting in earthquakes.

SCANDINAVIA

RUSSIA

People of Kamchatka (Siberia-Russia) believe that a god named Tuli drives an earth-laden sled pulled by dogs. The earth is located within the sled. The dogs are infested with fleas, and when the dogs stop to scratch, it caused an earthquake.

LATVIA

A god named Drebkuhls carries the Earth in his arms as he walks through the heavens. When he's having a bad day, he might handle his burden a little roughly. Then the Earth will feel the shaking.

BELGIUM

When people on Earth are very, very sinful, God sends an angry angel to strike the air that surrounds our planet. The blows produce a musical tone that is felt on the Earth as a series of shocks.

ROMANIA

The world is said to be resting on pillars. These pillars are the Pillars of Hope, Faith and Charity. When humans deeds make these pillars weak, the world is shaken.

MONGOLIA & CHINA

A gigantic frog, which carried the earth on its back, twitched periodically, producing slight quakes.

MONGOLIA

&

CHINA

CENTRAL AMERICA

According to the ancient Mayans, the world was actually shaped like a square and held at each of the four corners by the Vashakmen (gods) who maintained watch over the number of people in the world. When the world became overcrowded and overpopulated, one of the four Vashakmen would merely tip the square and the excess people would fall off planet. This act of tipping is actually the earthquake.

GREECE

Poseidon is the cause and god of earthquakes. Whenever he is in a bad mood, he would strike the ground with a trident, causing earthquakes. Apparently, he also used earthquakes to punish and inflict fear upon people as revenge. His unpredictable, violent behaviour earned him the nickname “Earth-Shaker.

GREECE

SOUTHERN

CALIFORNIA

GABRIELINO INDIANS

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Long ago, when most of the world was water, Great Spirit decided to make a beautiful land, which was carried on the backs of turtles. One day, the turtles began to argue and three turtles began to swim east, while the other four swam west. The earth shook! It cracked with a loud noise! The turtles could not swim far because the land on their backs was heavy. When they saw that they could not swim far away they stopped arguing and made up. But every once in a while the turtles that hold up California anger again, and each time they do the earth shakes.

AMERICA

(INDIAN)

AMERICAN INDIAN

Once a Chickasaw chief was in love with a Choctaw princess. He was young and handsome, but he had a twisted foot, so his people called him Reelfoot. When the princess' father refused to give Reel foot his daughter's hand, the chief and his friends kidnapped her and began to celebrate their marriage. The Great Spirit was angry and stomped his foot. The shock caused the Mississippi River to overflow its banks and drown the entire wedding party

JAPAN

The cause of earthquakes is the giant catfish Namazu. Only the god Kashima can immobilize namazu and with the help of a heavy capstone he will push the fish against the foundations of earth. However the god sometimes got tired or is distracted from his duty, Namazu will use these moments to wiggle his tail, causing an earthquake in the human world.

JAPAN

INDIA

Seven Serpents share the task of guarding the seven sections of the lowest earth. The seven serpent also takes turn in holding the earth, when one of them finished its turn, earth is then passed to the other creating shake that will be felt by the humans.

INDIA

The Earth held up by four elephants that stand on the back of a turtle. The turtle is balanced on top of a cobra. When any of these animals move, the Earth trembles and shakes.

MEXICO

KUKIS OF ASSAM, INDIA

A race of people is living inside the earth. They start to have a suspicion if the humans are still alive on the surface of the earth so they starts punching and smashing the ground above creating an earthquakes and the people above should shout “I’m here! I’m here!” so that the shaking will stop.

MEXICO

El Diablo, an Indian god, made a giant rip in the ground. He and his devilish friends use the cracks when they want to come and stir up trouble on Earth.

PHILIPPINES

WEST AFRICA

The earth is a flat disk held up on one side by an enormous mountain and a giant on the other side. The giant’s wife holds the sky above. The earth trembles when he stops hugging her wife

WEST AFRICA

A giant carries the Earth on his head. Plants that Grow are his hair, and humans, animals and insects crawl in his head. The giant sits facing the east, after sometimes he then face the west then back to the east again with a jolt felt as an earthquake.

PHILIPPINE MYTHOLOGY

BERNARDO CARPIO

Is a legendary figure in Philippine Mythology who is said to be the cause of earthquakes. There are numerous versions of this tale. Some versions say Bernardo Carpio is a giant, as supported by the enormous footsteps he has reputedly left behind in the mountains of Montalban. Others say he was the size of an ordinary man. However, all versions agree he had a strength that was similar to that of Hercules.

BASIC LEGEND

The basic form of the legend is that Bernardo Carpio, a being of great strength, is trapped in between two great rocks in the Mountains of Montalban.

Some versions say he is keeping the mountains from crashing into each other (similar to the Greek titan Atlas holding up the sky), and some versions say he is trapped and trying to break free. When Bernardo Carpio shrugs his shoulder, an earthquake occurs.

EAST AFRICA

The cow stands on a huge flat stone, and the stone in turn is resting on the back of a giant fish. The cow balances the earth on the tip of one of its horns, but the weight of this sometimes causes her neck to ache. When the aching gets too bad she tosses the earth onto the other horn. It is this movement that causes the earth to shake.

COLOMBIA

When the Earth was first made, it rested firmly on three large beams of wood. But one day the god Chibchacum decided that it would be fun to see the plain of Bogotá underwater. He flooded the land, and for his punishment he is forced to carry the world on his shoulders. Sometimes he's angry and stomps, shaking the Earth.

COLOMBIA

INDONESIA

The god Batara Guru created the land by sending a handful of dust to his daughter. When the dust was put into the ocean it made a large island. This made Naga Pahoho, the serpent who lived beneath the ocean, furious. He arched his mighty back and made the island float away. This angered Batara Guru, so he sent down more dust and a hero with an iron block to detain the serpent. The serpent twisted around and tried to fight the formation of the land but all he accomplished was creating mountains and valleys. Today when earthquakes occur, these Hindus believe that it is Naga Pahohho trying to defy the all mighty god of the sky, Batara Guru.

PERU

Whenever a major 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 homes to shout “I am here! I am here!”

PERU

MOZAMBIQUE

The earth is a living creature that sometimes when it got sick with fever and chills and we can feel it shaking.

MOZAMBIQUE

NEW ZEALAND

Earth is a mother carrying a young god in her womb. The God carried by earth is God Ru, as Ru stretches inside the earth and kicks, trembles and shakes are felt around the world.

PHILOSOPHER'S VIEW

ANAXAGORAS OF CLAZOMENAE (500-428 B.C.E.)

He thought that the earth is flat and floats supported by 'strong' air under it and disturbances in this air sometimes cause earthquakes. Caverns within the earth contained thick vapors. When vapors collided, fire was produced (much as lightning is produced when clouds collide) and if obstructed explosively breaks through causing the shaking.

THALES OF MILETUS (580 B.C.E.)

NEW ZEALAND

Thales's theory about the cause of earthquakes is consistent with his hypothesis that earth floats upon water. It seems that he applied his floating on water simile to the natural phenomena of earthquakes.

CALLISTHENES (360-328BC)

He wrote that air entered earth through hidden openings under the sea. If air was trapped by water, the air moved around and undermined the earth.

ARCHELAUS (5TH CENTURY B.C.E.)

Air found its way into the interior of the Earth through passages leading to underground caverns. If additional air was forced in, it was compressed and caused violent storms that produced Earth movement and Earth sounds

SENECA (4 B.C.E. TO 65 C.E.)

Interior and exterior of Earth were identical except air trapped inside was clammy, the waters torpid, and the animals slow-paced and almost shapeless "... an earthquake is caused by a blast; a blast is none the less air in motion".

NEW ZEALAND

In the Maori myth, when the kids manage to separate Rangi (sky) & Papa (earth), Rangi cried, and his tears flooded the land. To stop this, the sons decided to turn Papa face down, so Rangi and Papa could no longer see each other’s sorrow. Rūaumoko (the god of earthquakes) was at his mother’s breast when this happened, so he was carried into the world below. He was given fire for warmth by Tama-kaka, and his movements below the earth cause earthquakes and volcanoes.

ANAXIMENES OF MILETUS (526 B.C.E.)

Earthquakes, he asserted, were the result either of lack of moisture, which causes the earth to break apart because of how parched it is, or of superabundance of water, which also causes cracks in the earth. In either case the earth becomes weakened by its cracks, so that hills collapse and cause earthquakes.

DEMOCRITUS (460 BCE–370 BCE)

The hollows in the earth being unable to admit the excess of water it forces its way in and so causes an earthquake. Or again, the earth as it dries draws the water from the fuller to the emptier parts, and the inrush of the water as it changes its place causes the earthquake.

GEROLAMO CARDANO (1501-1576)

AGRICOLA (1494-1555)

He supposed that earthquakes are due to explosions produced by the chemical reaction of Sulphur and Nitrogen.

Formulated the hypothesis that gasses are produced by chemical reactions between the central fire, the Earth and the moisture; these gasses, when submitted to high pressure, are forced to move the Earth’s surface, producing faults in the crust and generating earthquakes.

ARISTOTLE (384 BC – 322 BC)

Collected data from Anaximenes, Anaxagoras and Democritus and come up with the idea that when a very large amount of wind gets built up inside the Earth, is must burst forth. This causes earthquakes.

ANCIENT BELIEFS:

MYTHS, LEGENDS AND FOLKLORES

ABOUT EARTHQUAKE