The Hindu Business Line : An earthquake from `the depths of Asia'

SIR Arthur C. Clarke, popular science fiction writer, wrote in 1954 to the US Weather Bureau on how satellites could be used for weather forecasting. It seems Clarke's idea was instrumental in starting a new branch of meteorology. He has been living in Sri Lanka since 1956, and was in the news recently for two reasons: damage that his diving school suffered, and his account of the 1883 tidal wave, after eruption of Krakatoa, in The Reefs of Tabrobane, a travelogue on Ceylon.

On whether he had foreseen the tsunami in his works there could be debate, but a quote of his on www.brainyquote.com reads: "I don't believe in astrology; I'm a Sagittarius and we're sceptical." However, since scientists have failed and sci-fi doesn't seem to readily help, I turn to The Final Prophecies of Nostradamus by Erika Cheetham. Index lists many pages for `earthquakes,' though there is none for tsunami.

"The earth will tremble. Water an unhappy reluctance," writes the prophet in one place, and that seems fairly close, because waves came quite late, as if reluctant. In `Century IX,' he writes, "By the flood and the great plague the great city is besieged for a long time. The sentry and guard killed... " but Erika classifies the quatrain as "yet another vague, generalised." To me it looks like what happened in Nicobar, killing many defence personnel, though we can cut off the `plague' part.

`Century III (III.III)' has a disturbing prediction: "An earthquake will be reported from the depths of Asia." One doesn't know if it could have been Latur or Indonesia. There are more `earthquake' lines in Nostradamus's work, though the location is left for researchers to infer. So I shuffle to see the `floods' forecast. "A torrent to open the tomb of marble and lead," occurs in `Century IX,' and is interpreted as referring to "the real tomb of St Peter," but I want to check if they use marble too in Kalpakkam.

"Floods, and dark-skinned people," and oh, that must be down South. "The seventh million," that comes thereafter looks like a grossly inflated number for the current conditions, unless one looks at the number of affected. From the commentary, one learns that in 1988, floods ravaged dark-skinned people in countries such as Sudan, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia, grossing a death toll of the stated number.

`Century V' comes close to Sri Lanka, I'd guess: "Divided by two heads and three arms, the great city will be troubled by water. Some of the great men among them wander in exile." A divination early on in the book is about `flooding' that will spread, "drowning great countries, even antiquities and their mighty foundations." And Erika's note sounds ominous: "It could possibly arise as the result of an earthquake, either on land or sea."

If that is French contribution to future, there are apt lines from Shakespeare too. "Devoured by the unexpected flood," explains the tragic end of many people on the ill-fated beaches and resorts close by, but that's a snatch of dialogue from King John.

"Let it be call'd the wild and wandering flood," is not a Met statement, post-event, but a quote from Troilus and Cressida. "Leap in with me into this angry flood," looks like a dangerous invitation, and Cassius reports that to Brutus as what Caesar told him. "The cable broke, the holding-anchor lost, and half our sailors swallow'd in the flood?" may look like a confirmation message to the Andamans, but no, this appears in King Henry VI.

Aren't these some straws to clutch when one is drowned in misery?

SayCheek@TheHindu.co.in

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An earthquake from `the depths of Asia'

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