An astrologer in Myanmar was jailed by police for inciting fear by foretelling a new earthquake in a widely shared TikTok video.
Just two weeks after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in the South East Asian country demolished centuries-old temples and killed 3,500 people, John Moe The made his prediction on April 9.
His “false statements with the intention of causing public panic” led to his detention on Tuesday, according to Myanmar’s information authority.
John Moe They had warned that on April 21, an earthquake would “hit every city in Myanmar”. But because of the intricacy of the variables involved, experts say it is impossible to anticipate earthquakes.
John Moe The advised viewers to “take important things with you and run away from buildings during the shaking” in his video, which received over three million views.
According to the caption, “People should not stay in tall buildings during the day,”
According to a resident of Yangon who spoke to AFP, several of her neighbors shared the prognosis. Due to their refusal to remain in their houses, they set up camp outside on the day of John Moe They predicted that an earthquake would occur.
With over 300,000 followers, his now-defunct TikTok account states that it uses palmistry and astrology to make predictions.
When his house in Sagaing, central Myanmar, was raided, he was taken into custody.
The 28 March earthquake was particularly severe in Mandalay and Sagaing, prompting the Myanmar authorities to make a rare appeal for international assistance.
A building collapsed at a construction site in Bangkok, about 1,000 kilometers distant, killing hundreds of people.
