No need to panic if toads appear ...
Source: Xinhua |
April 7, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
PEOPLE in east China's Jiangsu Province needn't panic if they see a swarm of dragonflies or toads marching down the road in unison - a quick call to the local government will give them an immediate explanation and soothe any worries they might have.
Chinese people have always believed that an abnormal phenomenon is a sign of impending disaster.
But Yang Jianjun, an official with the Nanjing municipal bureau of seismology, said: "Not all the 'abnormalities' the public find necessarily indicate a disaster."
However, he noted that abnormal phenomena were often spotted before disasters such as earthquakes.
Jiangsu has published a set of regulations regarding quake prevention and disaster reduction, including one that encourages people and institutions to report "anomalies of the nature."
"The idea is not from seismologists, but sociologists," an employee at the local government's legislation office said.
"After some massive earthquakes recently, like the one in Japan, people are deeply worried about disasters."
Yang said: "The new regulations give people a better way to express their worries."
In April 2009, police in east China's Anhui Province caught some smugglers and freed many frogs and snakes in a suburb of Hefei, the provincial capital.
Many local residents, seeing hordes of the creatures on the move, thought it a sign that an earthquake was on the way and were too afraid to go to sleep in their apartments.
Their fears were only laid to rest when the local seismological authorities stepped in to explain what had happened after they had launched an investigation.
Wang Kaiyu, a sociologist with the Anhui Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, said: "For rumors, it is better to face it rather than to avoid it. I believe residents have the right to know the truth if a disaster is really coming."
But Wang said the new regulations might prove a burden on the government of Jiangsu.
"Some wrong information may lead to extra work for the government," Wang said.
"The government should also consider whether people who deliberately spread wrong information are subject to punishments."
Chinese people have always believed that an abnormal phenomenon is a sign of impending disaster.
But Yang Jianjun, an official with the Nanjing municipal bureau of seismology, said: "Not all the 'abnormalities' the public find necessarily indicate a disaster."
However, he noted that abnormal phenomena were often spotted before disasters such as earthquakes.
Jiangsu has published a set of regulations regarding quake prevention and disaster reduction, including one that encourages people and institutions to report "anomalies of the nature."
"The idea is not from seismologists, but sociologists," an employee at the local government's legislation office said.
"After some massive earthquakes recently, like the one in Japan, people are deeply worried about disasters."
Yang said: "The new regulations give people a better way to express their worries."
In April 2009, police in east China's Anhui Province caught some smugglers and freed many frogs and snakes in a suburb of Hefei, the provincial capital.
Many local residents, seeing hordes of the creatures on the move, thought it a sign that an earthquake was on the way and were too afraid to go to sleep in their apartments.
Their fears were only laid to rest when the local seismological authorities stepped in to explain what had happened after they had launched an investigation.
Wang Kaiyu, a sociologist with the Anhui Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, said: "For rumors, it is better to face it rather than to avoid it. I believe residents have the right to know the truth if a disaster is really coming."
But Wang said the new regulations might prove a burden on the government of Jiangsu.
"Some wrong information may lead to extra work for the government," Wang said.
"The government should also consider whether people who deliberately spread wrong information are subject to punishments."
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