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Earthquakes
According to Indian mythology, the world rests on the head of a
great elephant, and when, for the sake of rest, the huge monster
refreshes itself by moving its head, an earthquake is produced. The
elephant is called “Muha-pudma.”
“Having penetrated to the south, they saw the great elephant
`Muha-pudma,' equal to a huge mountain, sustaining the earth with its
head.” —The Ramayuna (section xxxiii.).
The Lamas say that the earth is placed on the back of a gigantic
frog, and when the frog stretches its limbs or moves its head, it
shakes the earth. Other Eastern mythologists place the earth on the
back of a tortoise.
Greek and Roman mythologists ascribe earthquakes to the restlessness
of the giants which Jupiter buried under high mountains. Thus Virgil (Æneid, iii. 578) ascribes the eruption of Etna to the giant
Enceladus.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Earthquakes from Infoplease:
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