A rare atmospheric phenomenon called the Sundog or the Mock Sun was visible in Darkhan and Khutul last Friday morning.  Colored patches of light appeared bide the sun. The phenomenon occurs when the sun is low and usually when the temperature is low as the sun’s rays bounce on ice crystals in the air.

Popular belief says sundogs are often followed by earthquakes, as happened in Sichuan in China in 2008. As if proving this, an earthquake measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale took place in central Mongolia and Ulaanbaatar on Saturday, the metropolitan emergency department reported. The epicenter of the quake, recorded exactly at 15:15 local time, was located around 10 km north of Delgertsogt soum, Dundgobi province, and measured at magnitude of 5.1. There has so far been no report of any property damage or human casualty.