Brazilian psychic stands by quake alert mobilizing Indonesia

"The danger of this earthquake exists, there is no doubt," Jucelino Nobrega da Luz, 45, said by telephone from his home in Aguas de Lindoia in southeast Brazil.

"I'm glad to hear that the Indonesian authorities are preparing the population," he said.

A spokesman for Bengkulu province on Sumatra island, Husni Hassanuddin, on Monday told ElShinta radio that local officials were reacting to da Luz's forecast that a quake would rock the island on December 23.

"Though we call it a rumor, we take this information seriously. We don't want people to blame us if it really happens," he said, adding that evacuation drills would be held before the circled date.

No technology exists that can predict where and when earthquakes will strike.