LOUDI, CHINA- Thousands of people migrated to the central square in Loudi, Hunan Province, on Tuesday night amid rumors of a prediction that an earthquake would be striking the city sometime between 11pm and 2am that evening.  Cell phone lines were jammed as the rumor spread quickly through the city, located in central Hunan province, west of the provincial capital Changsha, and over 1,400km (870 mi) southeast of the epicenter of last week's devastating Sichuan quake.

The sidewalks were unusually lively late in the evening, as young and old, families and students made their way to perceived safer ground, some with blankets and bedsheets, expecting to ride out the purported earthquake outdoors.

A family had laid out a blanket to sit on the path near a crosswalk, and in the grass there was a group of teenagers playing cards.  One of them opposed being photographed, "you are intruding on my human rights."

A local university's nightly 10:30pm curfue was largely ignored by the students, and teachers who encouraged the students to leave the buildings for the relative safety of flat, open spaces.

The city's central Louxing Square was the chosen meeting place included in the rumor-filled text messages, probably for the location and the enormous television that towers over the square's southeast corner.

Around midnight, hundreds were gathered in front of the large TV in one corner of the square, reading a message in neon-green Chinese characters telling them: Now there is no earthquake threatening the city, do not believe or spread the rumors, safely make your way home.

A voice came over the sound system, reiterating the TV message, "I am the head of the Loudi Earthquake Bureau, there is no threat, don't believe the rumors, please return to your homes."

By 1am, most of the people in Louxing Square had dispersed, but there were still many people talking, sleeping, playing cards, or buying late-night snacks from one of numerous street-food vendors that set up near the square to serve the crowds.

Earlier in the evening, the TV was broadcasting state-media videos from the devastation in Sichuan, broadcasts which for the last week focused on dramatic rescue effors by the army and sorrowful scenes of grief-stricken, teary-eyed survivors trying to find lost loved-ones or struggling to rebuild.

Tuesday's earthquake rumors played heavily with emotions that were already running high from China's three-day mourning period, a period of national unity marked by flags at half-staff, donation drives and news broadcasts mainly focused on the suffering in Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, the heart of the epicenter of last week's earthquake.

Local residents, most of who lightly felt last week's earthquake, were already weary of disaster and charged with emotions.

In January and February, the area was battered for weeks by a snowstorm that paralyzed most of China's southern provinces during the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year), the country's most important holiday.  The foreign protests during the international leg of the Olympic torch relay, which were sparked by the Tibetan riots in March, led to a protest outside the local Walmart store on May 1, a national holiday.