PUNE, INDIA, April, 27, 2001: A model to predict earthquakes, developed by a California-based scholar of Chinese origin, Zhonghao Shaou, uses the concept of “earthquake clouds.” The same concept is dealt with in detail in the 32nd chapter of Varahamihira’s “Brihat Samhita.” The greatness of the Ujjain-born scholar, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer Varahamihira (505-587 CE) is widely acknowledged. The 32nd chapter of the manuscript is devoted to signs of earthquakes and correlates earthquakes with cosmic and planetary influences, underground water and undersea activities, unusual cloud formations and the abnormal behaviour of animals. “I find it rather odd that the description of earthquake clouds in Brihat Samhita matches the observations made by Zhonghao Shaou at the Earthquake Prediction Centre in Pasadena, California,” said B. D. Kulkarni, head of the National Chemical Laboratory’s Chemical Engineering Division. Zhonghao Shou, a retired chemist based near Caltech in California, has been using satellite imagery and other scientific tools to fine-tune his theory of “earthquake clouds” as precursors to earthquakes. Shou says he has predicted 39 quakes since 1990.
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