A man has been sentenced to two years' jail for spreading false information through phone text messages just three days after the May 12 Sichuan earthquake.

Tongchuan District People's Court in Sichuan Province was told Liu Changchun, an employee of a Chengdu telecommunication equipment company, sent messages to 12 people, claiming a severe aftershock would happen on the night of May 15 in Dazhou, Sichuan Province, West China City Daily reported today.

His message caused chaos in Dazhou, the report said. Many residents were scared by the false warning and stayed in the streets that night, the report said.

One resident, however, was suspicious about the message and reported it to police.

The report said Liu got the idea to send his message after he received daily messages from Dazhou Anti-earthquake Office to calm down residents.

The message he received on May 14 said there would be no further quake activity in Dazhou city. The office asked residents not to be panic.

However after Liu received the message, he amended it into a warning of deadly aftershocks and sent it out the next day.

(Shanghai Daily August 6, 2008)