On May 13, 1848, a strong earthquake struck the eastern part of Siam (present-day Thailand). In describing what happened, Scientific American noted one curious detail:
“During the tremors, something resembling human hair emerged from the ground. They were everywhere: in market squares, on roads, in fields and in places that were practically not affected by an earthquake. It was rather long straight hair, sometimes it stood upright, firmly sticking to the ground. When they were set on fire, they curled up like human beings, and a characteristic burning smell emanated from them - all this testified in favor of their authenticity.
During the earthquake, this hair covered the ground in a matter of seconds. The Chantibun River seemed to boil, bubbles were rising on its surface, making the water look white. Many people believe that this hair may have come from exposure to electricity."
"Hair of the earthquakes" was mentioned in other notes on natural disasters in Asia. Since ancient times, the Chinese have considered them to be the wool of an animal living under the earth, the movement of which caused earthquakes.
Dr. Daniel Jerome McGowan, who was collecting data for the seismological community, quoted a Chinese newspaper from 1878 that spoke of an incident in the city of Wuxi near the Grand Canal:
“At noon, tremors were felt, lasting several minutes. They were so strong that it was impossible to stand or sit. However, the earthquake did not bring any damage. Two days later, at night, there were much stronger tremors, after which white threads appeared on all the walls of the city, similar to patches of a gray beard about eight centimeters long. The boys pulled them out of the ground, collecting handfuls in a short time."
McGowan noted that "earthquake hair" was most often observed in lowlands and depressions. And one of the Chinese scientists put forward a theory that these are just fibers of the hemp palm Chamaerops fortunei scattered on the ground.
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However, similar cases were recorded in other countries - where there were no such palms. This means that the origin of the thin natural threads was different. In Iceland, the strange fibers have been known as "witch's hair" since time immemorial. Long (up to 1.8 meters) golden threads can be seen on the slopes of the Hawaiian volcano Kilauea. Here they are called the hair of Pele, the goddess of volcanoes.
During eruptions, molten lava is pulled into thin and light fibers, and the wind carries them over long distances. The extremely sharp volcanic fiberglass can seriously injure your hands and should be handled with care. In addition, there is a belief that people who take this fragile natural artifact with them are haunted by failure.
Author: Elena Muravyova