Posts Tagged ‘Magnitude 14 earthquake’

Teacher Wang gets away with it!!

May 5, 2011

Following up from my previous post, it would seem that Teacher Wang need not fear new legal actions against his creative marketing techniques!!

From the Taipei Times:

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.

Freight containers converted into houses that are allegedly to be used by followers of “Teacher Wang” stand in Puli, Nantou County: Photo: AFP/Sam YEH

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.

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.

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Posted in Alarmism, Behaviour, Fraud, Trivia | 1 Comment »

“Doomsday coming on 11th May – Buy a container only $5500”

May 3, 2011
Taipei 101 as seen from Sun Yat-sen Memorial H...

Taipei 101: Image via Wikipedia

Teacher Wang predicts that a magnitude 14 earthquake and a 170 m tsunami are going to devastate Taiwan on May 11th and cut the island in two.

The Taipei 101 skyscraper and the Presidential Office will be destroyed he warns.  The only way for people to save themselves is by buying a container fitted for electricity, heating and air-conditioning and placing it in the hills beyond the reach of the coming tsunami. Each such container costs around $5500.

More than 100 such containers have been sold so far!!

Teacher Wang sounds more like an inspired marketing manager and less a doomsday prophet.

So far the police have not been able to find him.

From the BBC:

Police in Taiwan are investigating a self-proclaimed prophet whose doomsday warnings on a blog have caused panic. The man, identifying himself as Teacher Wang, said Taiwan would be struck by a magnitude-14 earthquake and 170m (560ft) high tsunami on 11 May. More than 100 cargo containers have been bought and set up in a mountainous area of central Taiwan.

Police said they were investigating if the blogger had conspired with a container business to defraud people. 

Taiwan’s famous Taipei 101 skyscraper and the Presidential Office building would be toppled, he warned.

More than 100 cargo containers have been discovered in the town of Puli, Nantou county. Workers had been hired to fit them with doors, windows and air conditioning, says the BBC’s Cindy Sui in Taipei. The containers cost about $5,500 (£3,300) each, once water and electricity are included, our correspondent adds.

Taiwan is in a quake zone. In 1999 a 7.6-magnitude tremor killed more than 2,400 people and damaged 50,000 buildings. But Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau says there is no basis for the doomsday prediction, since a magnitude-14 tremor is unheard of, and quakes cannot be reliably predicted.

Officials say Japan’s recent devastating quake and tsunami may have led fraudsters to exploit people’s fears. The police have not been able to trace “Teacher Wang”, who had touted his theory to TV reporters but insisted his face not be shown. The authorities have removed his doomsday warnings from the internet. 

Fraud convictions carry a maximum five-year jail term while breaking the law on social order is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, said Taiwanese police. “Teacher Wang” suggested people live in such containers to survive the disaster, which he said would kill millions of people and split the island in half.

Teacher Wang may be just another despicable fraud but he has confirmed that the gullibility of humans is unlimited and he has brightened my day! A $1000 fine with the return of the containers and the purchase price sounds like an appropriate penalty.

And while he may be a little less sophisticated he is much less dangerous than the Global Warming doomsday merchants who are milking billions of carbon trading dollars! If only Teacher Wang had linked everything to Global Warming he may have even been granted tenure at Penn State University……

Workers modify freight containers that are being converted into houses in Puli, central Nantou county on 28 April 2011

The survival containers: photo AFP

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Posted in Alarmism, Behaviour, Trivia | 6 Comments »