The doomsday fish and its relationship to the Japanese earthquake: fact or just a myth?

2024-01-04 2024-01-04T17:26:11Z

ArabiaWeather - The legend of the "Doomsday Fish" has spread widely on the Internet recently, following a massive earthquake in Japan at the beginning of this year, which occurred on Monday.

Many residents, numbering in the tens of thousands, were evacuated from their homes across the country, and according to current reports, the death toll reached 48 people as a result of the powerful earthquake, which raised fears of a tsunami.

The main island of Honshu in Japan was severely affected by the earthquake, which reached a magnitude of 7.6 , and led to tsunami waves one meter high that struck the west coast. This earthquake is considered one of the largest natural disasters in the history of Japan, and people are now linking it to the appearance of rare fish.

Oarfish... between myth and reality in light of the recent earthquake in Japan

The "oarfish" , also known as the "oarfish" , is a rare phenomenon that reaches 11 meters in length and is officially called the "oarfish". Some consider its presence a sign of future bad events.

Due to its size and shape, this marine creature resembles a "sea snake." Earlier in 2023, divers discovered an oarfish off the coast of Taiwan, sparking speculation from many about it being a bad omen of earthquakes and bad luck, based on Japanese mythology.

Legend has it that seeing an oarfish could be an indicator of an earthquake, and this story came back strongly in 2011. In that period, at least 12 oarfish were found on beaches shortly before the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred in Japan. It was among the strongest earthquakes ever recorded.

Despite people's hesitation to see these fish in the summer due to myths, the Ecuadorian Geophysical Institute indicates that there is no evidence of any connection between these fish and natural disasters, stressing that the myth has no connection to reality according to scientific studies until August 2022. However, it did not prevent People have linked the sighting of the oarfish to the recent earthquake in Japan.