False Alarms?
On the night of the 13th, I received a forwarded text message from a friend on my cell phone. Here's what the message said:
Rcvd txt fr. Dr. Chico Achacoso & Dr. Mate de Jesus Visionary emaild me. Remnd earthquake apr 14. Pls pray hard wid ur frnds. Stay out esp 5pm. U nvr knw.
On the 14th, thinking that it wouldn't actually do any harm if I did go down before 5 o'clock struck, A friend and I took the elevator down to the ground floor with ten minutes to go. When we got to the lobby's main entrance, these were the sights which greeted us:
It would seem like a lot of fellow employees thought that it would be better to play it safe rather than take any chances. The phenomena wasn't just limited to our building, it seems that people were going out of the other buildings as well. And when 5 o'clock struck, even traffic stopped, as drivers seemed to be waiting along with the rest of us to see if the prediction was going to come true or not. Hmmm... the power of text messaging at work.
When 5 o'clock came and went and still no earthquake, I trudged my way back to my office on the 19th floor, as did the rest of the other employees to their respective offices. Apparently our President and CEO threw a fit as he was having a hard time getting an elevator ride because of the full elevators, add to that the fact that there was actually a board meeting going on. The rest of the workday proceeded normally until quitting time without any further incident. I thought that was that until I came home later that night and checked my inbox. This was the email I received:
HI FRIENDS!
I WLD LIKE TO SHARE WITH U A MESSAGE THAT WAS SHARED TO ME. I JUST DON'T KNOW HOW TO RELATE IT TO U ALL AND HOW I GOT INVOLVED WITH WHAT I'M DOING NOW. BUT I HOPE THAT U WLD TAKE THIS VERY SERIOUSLY.
ABT 3 WEEKS AGO, I RECEIVED A TEXT MSG FROM A CLASSMATE FROM MEDICAL SCHOOL ASKING ME TO PRAY EARNESTLY AND TO PASS ON A MESSAGE THAT WARNED A FORTHCOMING DISASTER SO DEVASTATING THAT WILL DESTROY HALF OF MANILA AND QUEZON CITY. I THOUGHT OF IT AS A PRANK MESSAGE THAT WILL MAKE THE TELECOM COMPANIES EARN MILLIONS FROM THIS TEXT MESSAGE. SO INSTEAD OF PASSING IT TO FRIENDS, I DELETED IT AND FORGOT ALL ABT IT.
2 WEEKS AFTER THAT, A FRIEND OF MINE CAME TO SEE ME AT MY CLINIC. THOUGHT SHE BROUGHT HER DAUGHTER FOR A CONSULTATION, I FOUND OUT THAT NOTHING WAS WRONG. THEN WE GOT INTO A CONVERSATION. IT WAS HERE THAT SHE MENTIONED TO ME THAT A FRIEND OF HERS WITH A PSYCHIC POWER INFORMED HER OF A FORTHCOMING DISASTER THAT WILL GREATLY AFFECT MANILA AND QUEZON CITY. THIS PERSON SAW THE EARTHQUAKE IN JAPAN BEFORE IT HAPPENED. MY FRIEND KNEW THAT I RESIDE IN MANILA SO SHE WARNED ME TO LEAVE MANILA SOMETIME BETWEEN THE 2ND TO 3RD WEEK OF APRIL. SHE SAID WATER WILL DESTROY THE CITY AND WILL DAMAGE THE FUEL DEPO IN MANILA THAT WILL EVENTUALLY CREATE A SEA OF FIRE. SO MANY LIVES WILL BE AT STAKE. BEFORE SHE LEFT, SHE TOLD ME TAKE THE MATTER VERY SERIOUSLY. THAT WAS THE TIME THAT I RECALLED THE TEXT MSG SENT TO ME WEEKS BEFORE. SHE TOLD ME THAT IT WILL TAKE ABT 2-3 DAYS BEFORE THE WATER THAT WILL FLOOD MANILA RECEDES. SHE PROMISED THAT WHEN THE VISION BECOMES CLEARER, SHE WILL IN FORM ME.
THIS MORNING (3APR05), THE DAY THAT POPE DIED SHE SENT ME A TEXT MSG TO REMIND ME OF WHAT SHE SAID. THE DIASATER WILL HAPPEN FEW DAYS AFTER APR 15. IT WILL BE INITIATED BY AN EARTHQUAKE. FEW MINUTES AFTER I FORWARDED THE MSG, I LEARNED THAT MANILA WAS ROCKED BY A MILD EARTHQUAKE (I WAS IN LA UNION IN THE MORNING). I WAS TOLD TO PRAY MORE SO THAT WE MAY TRY TO MEDIATE THAT THE IMPENDING DISASTER BE PREVENTED IF POSSIBLE.
THIS MOMENT, 2142H, 03APR05, I WRITE THIS MAIL TO INFORM U THAT U PLEASE INFORM UR LOVED ONES IN THE AREA TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO SAVE THEMSELVES. I HAVE ALREADY MOVED MY CHILDREN TO LA UNION LAST NIGHT FOR SAFETY. I HAD TALKED TO SOME FRIENDS ABT IT AND SOME HAVE TOLD ME THAT FEW PSYCHIC FRIENDS OF THEIRS HAVE TOLD THEM A SIMILAR STORY. ONE FRIEND TOLD ME THAT THE EARTHQUAKE WLD MOVE SOME LAND FURTHER INTO MANILA BAY. THE MARIKINA TRENCH MAY BE INVOLVED THIS TIME...ALL I ASK IS FOR ALL OF U TO TAKE THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS...PLS SAVE MUCH WATER AND FOOD AS I WAS ADVISED...I'M MOVING OUT AND GOING TO THE PROVINCE BEFORE THE 15TH...NO HARM IN FOLLOWING A FRIENDLY ADVICE AND HOPE U GUYS DO THE SAME....THAT WILL GIVE ME A WEEK MORE OF THE NEEDED VACATION....
KIDDING ASIDE, HOPE I DID MY PART OF INFORMING U THE WARNING THAT WAS SHARED TO ME. LET'S ALL HOPE THAT IT WILL BE AVERTED. BUT ONLY GOD KNOWS THE PURPOSE WHY IT HAS TO HAPPEN.
PLS TAKE CARE AND MAY THE GOOD LORD BE WITH U ALL!!!!
RENATO
*Sigh* Another earthquake scare. Well, it's the 15th, and no earthquake so far. I guess the death of the Pope as well as the quakes which struck Indonesia (to the south) and Japan (in the north) must have frayed a few nerves here and there, leading to speculation that the Philippines would be the site of the next big quake.
While earthquakes scientifically can't be predicted (yet, at least) I guess it's not a bad idea to be at least aware of where you are and what to do in case a quake does strike. And just pray and have faith.
Bottom line: Scientifically there is no way to predict earthquakes. While seers and psychics sometimes do make correct predictions, more often than not they end up with egg on their face. An earthquake happening at this time isn't really improbable, as this region of the world seems to be more seismically active than usual. It wouldn't hurt for everyone to know what to do in an earthquake. If you're a religious person, than by all means pray and keep the faith. If you're not, you know what they say. If it's your time, it's your time.
Links:
Phivolcs rebuffs doomsday prediction via text, e-mail
Philippine Institute of Volcanology & Seismology
Thanks to Dickhead for some of the photography. :-)
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