The Central Weather Bureau yesterday said it would not pursue legal action against a doomsayer who claimed on his Web site that a magnitude 14 earthquake would hit Taiwan next month.
The bureau said the individual, known as “Teacher Wang” (王), had written on his blog that based on his reading of the Chinese classic I Ching (易經) — also known as the Book of Changes — the super earthquake would hit at 10:42:37am on May 11.
He also claimed that a tsunami would hit on May 17 that could generate a wave as high as 170m.
Photo: AFP/Sam YEH
Some media picked up Wang’s claims and a TV station interviewed him about his “research,” the bureau said.
After Wang’s Web post, some of his followers in Puli (埔里), Nantou County, began building about 170 shelters converted from cargo containers, the Apple Daily reported. Wang also claimed that millions of people would die in the cataclysm.
Wang advised people to stay in cargo containers, which he said would be safer than regular buildings, the paper said, also quoting construction workers as saying that they were rushing to finish by early next month.
To counter what it characterized as groundless claims, the bureau dismissed Wang’s comments as “nonsense” and had initially planned to fine Wang and the blog service provider for allowing Wang to publish comments in violation of the Meteorological Act (氣象法).
The act makes the bureau the only government body allowed to issue weather forecasts or warnings of hazardous meteorological and seismological phenomena. Article 24 of the act stipulates that people who report on such matters without securing permission from the bureau can be fined between NT$200,000 (US$6,973) and NT$1 million.
However, the bureau decided not to impose a fine on either after the blog operator voluntarily removed Wang’s comments.
However, the bureau said it would continue to monitor Wang’s comments.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS