Man detained over earthquake rumors in Shanxi
By Wang Xiang |
February 25, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
POLICE in north China's Shanxi Province have detained the instigator of an earthquake rumor that prompted thousands of people to flee their homes and sleep outdoors in chilly wind.
Shanxi police said they traced the man from a post on Baidu Tieba, an Internet forum where they believed the bogus warning of an imminent earthquake started.
They are questioning the suspect about his motives.
The panic was sparked by a one-week examination of rescue facilities after authorities launched a review of earthquake emergency procedures.
Some Internet users have started an all-out search for the hoaxer, while others are blaming earthquake authorities for not clarifying things after the rumor was widely spread.
Zhao Liu, a resident in Shanxi's Lingshi County, said he received a phone call from his sister on the night of February 20, screaming for them to leave the house because she learned about a quake on the Internet.
Zhao said as he rushed all his family outside, everyone in his apartment building was also evacuating. The fleeing people soon found themselves on congested roads as a mass county exit was sparked.
Wang Jiyuan, 80, was alerted by a call from his daughter. When he arrived at the city square, there were thousands of scantily clad people shivering after they fled their beds.
The Website of Shanxi's provincial seismic bureau was inaccessible when people started to panic. Government officials also remained silent, not helping matters at all.
Shanxi police said they traced the man from a post on Baidu Tieba, an Internet forum where they believed the bogus warning of an imminent earthquake started.
They are questioning the suspect about his motives.
The panic was sparked by a one-week examination of rescue facilities after authorities launched a review of earthquake emergency procedures.
Some Internet users have started an all-out search for the hoaxer, while others are blaming earthquake authorities for not clarifying things after the rumor was widely spread.
Zhao Liu, a resident in Shanxi's Lingshi County, said he received a phone call from his sister on the night of February 20, screaming for them to leave the house because she learned about a quake on the Internet.
Zhao said as he rushed all his family outside, everyone in his apartment building was also evacuating. The fleeing people soon found themselves on congested roads as a mass county exit was sparked.
Wang Jiyuan, 80, was alerted by a call from his daughter. When he arrived at the city square, there were thousands of scantily clad people shivering after they fled their beds.
The Website of Shanxi's provincial seismic bureau was inaccessible when people started to panic. Government officials also remained silent, not helping matters at all.
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