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Authorities in Hainan  have been trying to scotch rumours based on a Brazilian clairvoyant's doomsday prediction that a  9.1-magnitude earthquake and a tsunami will batter the island on Saturday and kill 1 million people.
Mainland media said fears of a repeat of the devastation in Sichuan  in May had been driving  migrant workers and holidaymakers off the island,  leaving  hotels, real estate businesses and factories deserted.
The rumours originated from a prediction by Brazilian clairvoyant Jucelino Nobrega da Luz,  who said  an earthquake would hit China or Japan and the death toll would reach 1 million. His prophecy has since been  widely circulated on mainland electronic bulletins.
To try to give the warning credibility, netizens said  the clairvoyant had also accurately predicted the 9/11 attacks, the 2004 Boxing Day Asian tsunami,  and Princess Diana's death in 1997.
They said some overseas authorities had taken his warnings seriously because the Brazilian had twice predicted earthquakes elsewhere.
A spokesman for the Hainan Earthquake Administration yesterday said people in Haikou  and Sanya  were panicking, especially since a 6.1-magnitude quake hit Panzhihua , Sichuan , late last month, killing dozens.
But he said earthquake forecasting was still a difficult task worldwide, and the clairvoyant's prediction was ridiculous because it was based on his dreams, or 'sixth sense'.
Administration deputy chief Li Zhanyong  said the island was not located in an area prone to earthquakes  or along a fault line, where about  90 per cent of earthquakes occur.
'Experts estimated that the likelihood of a 9.1-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in Hainan was very low and the island, monitored by sophisticated equipment around the clock, is safe enough,' Mr Li said.
Xinhua said many fearful migrant workers  had decided to go home for the  three-day Mid-Autumn Festival, which begins on Saturday.



Experts try to quell quake fears prompted by clairvoyant