The Portuguese Dominican friar Gaspar da Cruz, who visited Guangzhou later in 1556, heard about the earthquake, and later reported about it in the last chapter of his book A Treatise of China (1569). He viewed the earthquake as a possible punishment for people's sins, and the Great Comet of 1556 as, possibly, the sign of this calamity (as well as perhaps the sign of the birth of the Antichrist). See also List of earthquakes in China List of disasters in China by death toll List of historical earthquakes References Further reading . External links Ruins of Hua County Earthquake 1556 Shaanxi Disasters in Shaanxi Shaanxi Earthquake, 1556 Shanxi earthquake, 1556 Disasters in Ming dynasty