Taiwan may prosecute "prophet" for false apocalypse forecast

May 11, 2011, 8:05 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan is considering taking legal action against a self-proclaimed prophet for causing widespread panic by predicting a devastating natural disaster for Wednesday, which did not occur.

One elderly man apparently killed himself on hearing the news of impending doom. Authorities also expressed concerned that the rumours may have been intended to encourage sales of the suspect's home-made disaster shelters.

'Local authorities will decide if he has violated the law, and if he has, prosecutors will take action,' Interior Minister Jiang Yih-huah said in parliament.

Wang Chao-hung, known to many as Teacher Wang, warned on his blog that Taiwan would be hit by a magnitude-14 earthquake at 10:42 am (0242 GMT) Wednesday, which would trigger a 170-metre tsunami.

The strongest earthquake recorded in history reached 9.5 on the Richter scale and struck Chile in 1960.

Wang had built 200 shelters out of cargo containers in Puli Township in central Taiwan, and urged people to buy the 'container homes' for shelter.

The warning caused public panic. An elderly man reportedly leapt from his fifth-storey home in Taipei to avoid facing the apocalypse.

On Wednesday, hundreds of citizens and reporters gathered in Puli to see if the prophecy would come true. When the earth failed to move at the designated time, the relieved crowd broke out into mocking chants of 'Teacher Wang!' 'Teacher Wang!'

Wang's first response was to say the quake was late and would occur at noon, but then quickly said the whole thing had only been a joke. Some of Wang's disciples threw rocks at reporters.

Prosecutors are probing if Wang could have been acting to cause social disorder, and whether he was trying cash in on the hoax with his container homes.

Fraud convictions carry a maximum five-year jail term, while disturbing the peace is punishable by a fine of up to 30,000 Taiwan dollars (1,000 US dollars).

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