UAE | Environment
July 22 tsunami, quake warning just a prank
Bathers and coastal residents need not worry about an e-mail that was circulated on the internet warning of a tsunami that would take place on July 22, 2009. It's a hoax.
- By Emmanuelle Landais Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:13 June 28, 2009
Dubai: Bathers and coastal residents need not worry about an e-mail that was circulated on the internet warning of a tsunami that would take place on July 22, 2009. It's a hoax.
Gulf News reader Fatima Lamya, received the e-mail forwarded to her by a cousin. "I was actually 99 per cent sure that this mail is fake. I was not scared. I got this mail from my cousin and I think he got this from his friend. Many fake news is spreading like this," she said.
The e-mail appears to come from someone sincere and caring.
"I just wanted to let you know that please stay away from the beaches all around in the month of July. There is a prediction that there will be another tsunami or earthquake hitting on 22 July 2009. It is also when there will be sun eclipse," reads the e-mail.
According to a forecaster at the Dubai Meteorological Office, predictions like this are totally unreliable as the weather cannot be forecast that far into the future.
"It sounds like a complete load of rubbish. You cannot predict so far ahead and tsunamis are not linked to sun eclipses," the forecaster said.
The e-mail states that Malaysia including Sabah and Sarawak, Singapore, Maldives, Australia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines are going to be badly hit.
Several websites which serve to quash rumours and suppress urban legends have posted confirmations that the tsunami warning is a hoax.
Snopes.com concludes that scientists who have spent their whole lives studying earthquakes still cannot predict when and where one will hit. Snopes.com says the e-mail started circulating in April 2009 and has been taken from a blog.
Giant wave: Looking back
On December 26, 2004, an undersea earthquake with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia triggered a series of tsunami along the coast of most land masses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing more than 225,000 people in 11 countries.
The tremor, known as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, is the second largest earthquake ever recorded with a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3.
Share this article
More from UAE Environment
More from UAE
Popular in UAE
-
Your pictures
Readers' pictures
A Selection of the best Gulf News reader pictures this week
Latest news
- UAE National Day: Preparations in full swing
- Universities celebrate UAE National Day
- Brothers' triple success
- Reviving age-old craftsmanship
- Youth reconnect with history
- Fatima: UAE's women are exercising full rights
- Emirates Palace gears up for festivities
- Emerging writers to get networking opportunities
- Ministry of Health sacks employees for forgery
- Please don't use two parking spaces
- 'Education is a long-term investment'
- Scottish businessman awarded honorary doctorate in engineering
- Giving money is not enough
- Large crowds join in Eid festivities
- Al Ain's oryx may hold key to breeding
Community Reports
-
Please don't use two parking spaces
Thoughtless drivers means other motorists are losing out in a city where places to leave cars are often hard to find
-
School buses must do safe drop-offs
Some bus drivers let students off at the wrong side of the road
-
Munching on a health hazard
Residents must be careful about consuming snacks and sandwiches prepared along the roadside as they attract dirt and bacteria
-
Faded signage fails to guide visitors
Reader seeks better upkeep of signboards in green areas
