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Experts try to quell quake fears prompted by clairvoyant

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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.

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