Philippine nationals are all in a state of panic after a giant 14ft oarfish washed up on the shore of Barangay Poblacion in Compostela town in northern Cebu. People living in countries like Japan and the Philippines believes that oarfishes are a particular group of marine creatures that used to swim in shallow water ahead of an earthquake.
Upon spotting the giant fish, local residents tried to pull it off from the rock where it was trapped. However, the marine creature soon died, as its head was ripped off during the rescue efforts.
"Those who found the fish said it suddenly appeared hiding on the rocks located near the dike. They caught it by the head and started to pull it hard not knowing that it had a soft body, the reason why its head was ripped off," said the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Express.co.uk reports.
Harley Dean Grengia, of the Compostela MDRRMO revealed that it was for the first time that an oarfish is washed up on the shores. He also added that residents soon buried the fish on the shorelines.
Many people believe that the appearance of an oarfish is a bad omen, and it indicates the arrival of an impending earthquake followed by a dreaded tsunami. This myth initially became popular in Japan after the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and subsequent tsunami that claimed the lives of more than 20,000 people.
As per unofficial reports, several oarfishes washed up on the Japanese shores before the earthquake. The earthquake that hit the Japanese coastline measured more than 9 in the Richter scale, and it is still considered one of the biggest ever tremor recorded in history.
In the meantime, experts have claimed that oarfishes are getting washing ashore the coastlines due to global warming and subtle changes in the earth's crust.
"There is no scientific evidence at all for the theory that oarfish appear around big quakes. But we cannot 100% deny the possibility. It could be that global warming might have an impact on the appearance of oarfish or a reason we're just not aware of," Uozu Aquarium keeper Kazusa Saiba told CNN.
In the meantime, Frank Hoogerbeets, a self-proclaimed earthquake researcher has claimed that seismic activities will rise in the coming days due to a critical planetary alignment. As per Hoogerbeets, certain planetary alignments are destabilizing the tectonic plates on the earth, and it is causing a rise in seismic activities.
