"Millions of earthworms" invading a Taiwanese school

A large number of earthworms reportedly invaded a school in Taiwan yesterday, shocking local residents.

Video clips have emerged online showing countless worms crawling on the running track before a brave worker scraped them to the middle of the ground.

The incident took place at the Hualien Vocational High School in Hualian city, eastern Taiwan, in the morning of October 6, 2016.

The horrifying incident was captured in two videos, posted by Facebook users 'Cao Lebi' and 'Lin Shangen' to a page called 'Baoliao Commune' on October 6. 

Both clips showed that the running track and the concrete ground of the playing fields were covered with long, thin earthworms. 

It is thought that the city had witnessed heavy downpours, which caused the worms to leave the soil.

The infestation of the worms apparently gave the ground's keepers a real headache.

One of them is seen desperately trying to scrape away the wriggling creatures. 

The worms kept on squirming as they piled up in the middle of the playground. 

One person could be heard screaming in the background of the video: 'There are so many earthworms!'

Another person then shouted: 'It's so disgusting!' 

The Facebook post has attracted over 1,000 comments.

One user named 'Ya Beng', who claimed to be a former student of the school, said it was not the first time earthworms had surfaced on the



playground after heavy rain.

'Ya Beng' wrote: 'I saw a similar scene a few years ago. 

'The running track was filled with earthworms on the sports day after heavy rain. I don't know how to describe how I felt when I ran for a relay race.' 

The videos have also sparked fear among web users, who thought this could be a sign of an impending earthquake. 

One user asked: 'Does it mean a strong quake will happen soon?'

Another one said they should be prepared for a natural disaster: 'We should always bring some bottled water in case any disaster struck.'

A third one, however, had a different opinion on the incident: 'Here is a sea of fishing baits!'

One other user also joked: 'Fishing enthusiasts will be excited about this.' 

The Hualian authority is yet to release a statement regarding the incident. 

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off the south-eastern coast of Taiwan on yesterday night local time, some 15 hours after the videos were taken.

There has been no evidence suggesting these two incidents were related.  

Taiwan has been struck by 19 typhoons in the past four months, including the most recent Typhoon Aere, according to the Central Weather Bureau. 

Aere has led to downpours and thunderstorm since yesterday across cities in eastern Taiwan, including Hualien.

Classes were suspended on October 7 in Hualien.