MANILA, 15 March 2006 — A false tsunami warning allegedly sparked by a “fake prophet” sent thousands of villagers fleeing their homes and has affected resorts south of Manila yesterday, officials said.

Local officials said most of the evacuees were from the coastal towns of Nasugbu and Lian, which the man reportedly claiming to be an occultist said would bear the brunt of the tsunami.

Nasugbu Mayor Antonio Barcelon told reporters that up to 40,000 of the evacuees were from the barangays of Balaytigue, Bukana, Calayo, Natipuhan, Papaya, and Wawa in his town.

Mayor Osita Vergara of Lian said the tsunami scare also affected residents from the villages of Balibago, Buyubusan, Luyahan, Lumanyag and Matabungkay and San Diego in her municipality.

“They started leaving their houses Monday midnight as rumors of an oncoming tsunami spread like wildfire,” she said in Filipino.

Local reports said an unidentified old man who claimed to be a prophet had warned that a tsunami would hit the Batangas shoreline 13 days after a minor quake was felt in the area last March 1. They described the rumor-monger as a “male vagabond clad in a white gown and carrying a wooden stick.”

A barangay chairman identified as Ben Caraig said the unknown old man asked for water from the residents, then told them to immediately evacuate for their own safety because a “massive tidal wave” would wash away their houses between March 13 and 14, or 13 days.

Tsunamis, gigantic waves triggered largely by undersea earthquakes, are often mistakenly called “tidal waves.”

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) yesterday said there was no basis for the rumors of a tsunami in Batangas at this time.

Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum said that if ever a tsunami would occur, it would come at about 10 to 15 minutes after an earthquake.

“The sudden rise or fall of sea water would also be noticeable, giving alert residents sufficient warning to flee,” Solidum said in a nationwide radio broadcast.

Officials said even the tourist resorts in the barangays of Matuod, Matabungkay, KayReyna and San Diego were adversely affected by the rumor.

Tourists were reported to have canceled bookings in resorts and hotels in the area over the weekend.

A tsunami scare also hit towns in the northern coast of Mindanao in the southern Philippines last week and the governor of Surigao del Norte had to plead with the evacuees to return home.

Last year, residents in the southern coasts of Mindanao, including the Zamboanga Peninsula, were also reported to have been swept by a tsunami scare. Authorities said there is obviously a need to coordinate and confirm such critical disaster warnings with the concerned government science agencies. (With a report from Inquirer News Service)