I119A. Earthquake - are there any survivors? .11.21.22.24.

The creatures shake the ground when they recognize that it is no longer inhabited, either to check if the inhabitants are still alive or to indicate that they themselves are still there.

Tonga, Kuki (Purum), Aka, Lushei, Kachin, Chin Naga, Shan, Karen, Timor (probably Tetum).

Bantu-speaking Africa. Tonga (Malawi) [the creator of Chiuta (the same word for lightning and thunder) occasionally asks his people (the dead in the underworld) if they are there; they answer him in chorus, knocking their pestles on mortars – this is an earthquake]: Scheub 2000: 31.

Tibet - Northeast India. Kuki (purum) [the underground people send a beetle to bring animal dung; when it returns, it says that there are no people or animals left on earth; then the underground people shake the earth to check; the dung brought by the beetle turns into gold]: Das 1945: 217; kuki (anal, lamgang) [the inhabitants of the lower world shake the earth from time to time to make sure that the people on earth are still alive; therefore during an earthquake one must cry out, "Alive, alive!"; or excrement-eating worms descend to the nether world, tell the god of the nether world that everyone above has died; then he shakes the earth to check this; or the worm Yangmal descended to the god of the nether world, taking a piece of earth as a gift; this piece turned into gold and silver; the god of the nether world sent Yangmal to bring more, but for some reason he said that the upper world was destroyed; to check this, the god of the nether world shakes the earth]: Shakespear 1909: 395 (= 1912: 184); aka (Hrusso) [the world rests on the back of the creature Phum-Badra; his head is turned to the east, his back to the west; from time to time the insect Chunchi-Raba-Rubbu tells him that all the people and animals on earth have died, he cries with grief, the earth trembles; then people and the animals cry, We are here , PB calms down]: Elwin 1958a, no. 7: 88 (= 1958b: 96); lushei [the inhabitants of the nether world shake the earth from time to time to make sure that people on earth are still alive; so during an earthquake one must cry, "Alive, alive!"; or excrement-eating worms go down to the nether world, tell the god of the nether world that everyone up there has died; then he shakes the earth to check this; or the worm Yangmal went down to the god of the nether world, taking a piece of earth as a gift; this piece turned into gold and silver; the god of the nether world sent Yangmal to bring more, but for some reason he said that the upper world was destroyed; to check this, the god of the nether world shakes the earth]: Shakespear 1909: 395; Naga (Manipur; apparently Chin-Naga ) [during earthquakes people shout "We are alive!"]: Hanson 1913: 119-120; Kachinas [from time to time a large beetle flies to the underground spirit (female) and lies that all the people above have died and he cannot bury them; the spirit shakes the pillars of the earth to check whether this is true; or when all is quiet for a long time, the spirit begins to think: perhaps my children have forgotten me or are dead; he shakes his umbrella, and the people shout "We remember you"]: Hanson 1913: 119.

Burma - Indochina. Shan [under the world sleeps a big fish which holds its tail in its mouth, but sometimes it wakes up, bites its tail, and, shaking with pain, causes the earth to tremble and shake. This is the cause of the big earthquakes. But the cause of the little earthquakes is different. They are made by little men who live under the earth, and sometimes, feeling lonely, knock on the roof of the world above their heads; this knock is felt by men as little tremors. When the Shan feel such blows, they run out of their houses, fall on their knees, and answer the little men, saying, "Here we are! Here we are!"]: Frazer 1914: 198; Karen [the giant holds the world on his shoulders; when he gets tired and shifts from one thing to another, the earth shakes; sometimes beetles that feed on human refuse report that they are hungry because people do not provide them with food; this angers the giant and he shakes the earth violently; then the people shout: "We are still here!"; on such a day it is impossible to work]: Marshall 1922: 230.

Malaysia – Indonesia. Timor (probably Tetum) [people are the children of our father the Sun; they work, they rejoice at the sight of him; the Moon is jealous; says that when she walked, everything was extinct; the Sun: so they slept, now I will wake them; he fell to the ground, it shook, people ran out of their huts and began to shout: We are alive! The Sun shone again, and the Moon turned pale forever; when the earth trembles, people shout so that the Sun will hear them: We are alive!]: Anonimo 1955a: 80.