Submarine Village
3 min readcomplicated geological movements not only bring disasters to our human beings，but also bring us spectacles.For instance，Hainan Island possesses mysterious submarine grassland；in addition，a submarine village has been formed here.Located under the sea of Dongying Harbor，Beichuang Harbor，Dongzhai Harbor in the northeast of Qiongshan District inHaikou City and Puqian Harbor in Wenchang City，the Submarine Village is one of the geological heritage spots in Hainan.
The Submarine Village was caused by an unprecedented earthquake 300 years ago.According to the historical records，Qiongzhou great earthquake happened in the midnight on July 13th，1605 AD，the magnitude of the earthquake was at 7.5，with an epicentral intensity of 10 degrees，and the epicenter located between Tashi，Qiongshan County and Puqian，Wenchang County.The most hard-hit counties were Qiongshan，Chengmai，Lin’gao and Wenchang.More than 100 square kilometers land sank slowly then，reaching a range of 3-4 meters，including 72 villages.The phenomenon is really rare in the world.On every May and June，when the tide ebbed，taking a boat there，we can dimly see the village relics，yards，tablets and lanes，stone bridges，ancient stages，etc.This is the only ancient cultural relic found in China that the land sank and became sea because of earthquake.
The experts of earthquake authority deemed that the earthquake caused the whole land to sink vertically，and it’s seldom seen in the course of domestic and abroad earthquake history.The statement is quite reasonable After the Tomb-Sweeping Day every year，on a beach not far from Dongzhai Harbor，which the nearby fishermen called”Stone of the Village”，you will see a well-preserved ancient stage，which was made of square stones，and covered with sea oysters and shells.Every time，when the tide has gone out，the masses of nearby villages would go to sea，and some of them even come here for fishes and shrimps.
Hundreds of years have passed, and the earthquake relics have become unique undersea landscape. When the tide ebbed, we will see flat ancient farmland, straight paths cross the fields from the shallow area. On the beach from Dongzhai Harbor to Puqian Harbor, the ancient village’s relics are faintly visible. Look through the seawater, you will find basalt stone coffins, tombstones, stone wells, husking stones are well ranged. And the relics of Rencun Village are located 4 kilometers north of Puqian Harbor. The jagged yards and houses are not hard for us to recognize. Under the sea between Puqian Harbor and Beichuang Harbor, you can clearly see a chastity archway erected in the waterIt’s a piece of exquisite work with 4 columns and 3 holes. Crowds of aquatics swim around the archway, which makes it look like an “Undersea Dragon Palace”in the mythology. Look over there, the earthquake also left a chasm under Dongzhai Harbor, which is over 10 meters long and more than 20 meters wide. There still exists a bridge stretching across the ancient watercourse on the east of the chasm.
In recent years, many domestic and foreign tourists heard about the Submarine Village and come to Hainan for tours or researches. They are deeplyattracted by the mysterious earthquake relics, except for mourning the people who died from the earthquake; what’s more, they desire to travel to the fantastic tourist resort.
As time goes by, everything has changed greatly, but the ancient Submarine Village seems to remain the same. The experts of earthquake authority of Hainan Province recommended that such kind of geological relics resources widely exist in Hainan，for example volcanic activities relics，meteorite relics，thermal mineral spring relics and so on.
