Can Animals Sense Earthquake?

Answer 1

The belief that animals can predict earthquakes has been around for centuries.
In 373 B.C., historians recorded that animals, including rats, snakes and weasels, deserted the Greek city of Helice in droves just days before a quake devastated the place.

Accounts of similar animal anticipation of earthquakes have surfaced across the centuries since. Catfish moving violently, chickens that stop laying eggs and bees leaving their hive in a panic have been reported. Countless pet owners claimed to have witnessed their cats and dogs acting strangely before the ground shook—barking or whining for no apparent reason, or showing signs of nervousness and restlessness.

But precisely what animals sense, if they feel anything at all, is a mystery. One theory is that wild and domestic creatures feel the Earth vibrate before humans. Other ideas suggest they detect electrical changes in the air or gas released from the Earth.

Earthquakes are a sudden phenomenon. Seismologists have no way of knowing exactly when or where the next one will hit. An estimated 500,000 detectable quakes occur in the world each year. Of those, 100,000 can be felt by humans, and 100 cause damage.

One of the world's most earthquake-prone countries is Japan, where devastation has taken countless lives and caused enormous damage to property. Researchers there have long studied animals in hopes of discovering what they hear or feel before the Earth shakes in order to use that sense as a prediction tool.

American seismologists, on the other hand, are skeptical. Even though there have been documented cases of strange animal behavior prior to earthquakes, the United States Geological Survey, a government agency that provides scientific information about the Earth, says a reproducible connection between a specific behavior and the occurrence of a quake has never been made.

"What we're faced with is a lot of anecdotes," said Andy Michael, a geophysicist at USGS. "Animals react to so many things—being hungry, defending their territories, mating, predators—so it's hard to have a controlled study to get that advanced warning signal."

In the 1970s, a few studies on animal prediction were done by the USGS "but nothing concrete came out of it," said Michael. Since that time the agency has made no further investigations into the theory.

Erratic Behavior in Dogs

Researchers around the world continue to pursue the idea, however. In September 2003 a medical doctor in Japan made headlines with a study that indicated erratic behavior in dogs, such as excessive barking or biting, could be used to forecast quakes.

There have also been examples where authorities have forecast successfully a major earthquake, based in part on the observation of the strange antics of animals. For example, in 1975 Chinese officials ordered the evacuation of Haicheng, a city with one million people, just days before a 7.3-magnitude quake. Only a small portion of the population was hurt or killed. If the city had not been evacuated, it is estimated that the number of fatalities and injuries could have exceeded 150,000.

The Haicheng incident is what gave people hope that earthquakes might be predictable, says Michael, and what prompted the animal behavior studies by the USGS.

It was later discovered, though, that a rare series of small tremors, called foreshocks, occurred before the large quake hit the city.

"It was the foreshock sequence that gave (Chinese officials) the solid prediction," Michael said.

Still, the Chinese have continued to look at animal behavior as an aid to earthquake prediction. They have had several notable successes and also a few false alarms, said Rupert Sheldrake, a biologist and author of the books, Dogs that Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home and The Sense of Being Stared At.

A reproducible connection between animal behavior and earthquakes could be made, he said, but "as the Chinese have discovered, not all earthquakes cause unusual animal behavior while others do. Only through research could we find out why there might be such differences."

Sheldrake did his own study looking at animal reactions before major tremors, including the Northridge, California, quake in 1994, and the Greek and Turkish quakes in 1999.

In all cases, he said, there were reports of peculiar behavior beforehand, including dogs howling in the night mysteriously, caged birds becoming restless, and nervous cats hiding.

Geologists, however, dismiss these kinds of reports, saying it's "the psychological focusing effect," where people remember strange behaviors only after an earthquake or other catastrophe has taken place. If nothing had happened, they contend, people would not have remembered the strange behavior.

Reporting Strange Behavior

Sheldrake disagrees. Comparable patterns of animal behavior prior to earthquakes have been reported independently by people all over the world, he said. "I cannot believe that they could all have made up such similar stories or that they all suffered from tricks of memory."

More research is needed and is long overdue, said Sheldrake, who proposes a special hotline or Web site where people could call or write in if they saw strange behavior in their animals. A computer would then analyze the incoming messages to determine where they originated. A sudden surge of calls or e-mails from a particular region might indicate that a quake was imminent.

The information would be checked to make sure the observations were not caused by other circumstances known to affect the behavior of animals, such as fireworks, or changes in weather. And to avoid issuing false warnings, Sheldrake said, the data would be used in conjunction with other monitoring devices such as seismological measurements.

"Such a project would capture the imagination of millions of people, encourage large-scale public participation and research—and would be fun," he said. "What is holding this research back is not money but dogmatism and narrow-mindedness."

SORRY FOR THE LENGHT, BUT ITS AN ARTICLE FROM NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ON THE TOPIC. IT WAS AN EYEOPENER FOR ME HOPE IT HELPED YOU OUT.

Answer 2

Ive heard that snakes come out of their burrows, rats will come out from their hiding places and leave the house, and dogs will be very agitated a few hours before a huge quake. Immediately before a quake, birds will fly, and i think fish will swim erratically. I heard most of these from a documentary about earthquakes in China, and how people there are planning to use animals as earthquake predictors.

Answer 3

'There are two theories as to how animals may be able to detect earthquakes. One theory is that animals sense the earth's vibrations. Another is that they can detect changes in the air or gases released by the earth. There has been no conclusive evidence as to how animals may be able to sense earthquakes."
http://biology.about.com/od/animalbehavior/a/aa123104a.htm

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/11/1111_031111_earthquakeanimals.html

Personally, I think they can. If you've been around an animal long enough, you can pick up on it's moods and behaviors. You would know when it's acting unusual... dogs can be trained to sense cancer in people, and to find explosives in minefeilds, etc., so if there sense is that great, surely they can sense tremors that we humans can't seem to pick up on... wild animals survive natural disasters somehow... most birds are smart enough to know how tto find warm weather (migrate). Their instincts are better than ours...I think they can.

Answer 4

There are several unproved methods to predict earthquakes. One among is sensing by animals. Some times it helps ,some times it fails. It is not 100% true. But all the prediction methods have got some truth in it. I am the one finding the way to alert the people at the time of arrival of non dangerous fast propagating primary wave. That has helped me to issue the warning 2 hours before Tsunami struck our coast. But local T.V.Stations ignored my warnings. Please visit my URLs.
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Presentation slides
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Answer 5

Animals can sense out all earthquakes and other subtle terra movements.
earth rumbles and produces grating sound, animals especially cows, cats and dogs can understand that subsurface movements.
snakes and other burrowing animals can make out with slight re-adjustment in the alignments of their dwelling holes.

raised magma can arouse signals among these sensitive animals, it is possible with few human beings also.
it is just the age old behavioural transferring of signal giving gaurd against disasters through genetic mapping among reptiles and insects.

Answer 6

specific, some animals can sense the low frequency vibrations interior the floor in the previous an earthquake, and a variety of of of my cats eager to flow outisde interior the three hours or much less in the previous athunderstorm is very uncomplicated. They instinctually understand undesirable climate is coming, and desire to cover. perchance they are in a position to sense the vibrations interior the floor from lightning strikes miles away.

Answer 7

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The first is simple; you must win your dogs mind. If you don’t achieve this first then you will be struggling the all the way. When I talk about winning your dogs mind what I really mean is that your dog looks to you for all the decisions. Before you do anything else watch one of the amazing video sites that show you the 5 Golden rules to establishing yourself as the pack leader. If you aren’t putting these in place then you are setting yourself up to fail. Just at the crucial point where you really want your dog to listen they will go and do their own thing. For sure your dog may play ball occasionally or even most of the time, you may even have a dog that is obedient 99% of the time, however if you want a dog who always listens to you and does as you ask then you need to win your dogs mind.

The second key to success is to motivate your dog. It is really important that you discover what it is that your dog enjoys both in terms of exercise and play but also in terms of a reward. If you can make the experience enjoyable then you will both achieve more and look forward to training.

Some dogs love to fetch, others love agility, and other dogs simply love obedience training, or swimming out into water and retrieve. At least to start with find out what your dogs love is and help them develop this, what I am saying is work with your dog. The other point to recognize is to make training enjoyable reward your dog.

Answer 8

yes, its been scientifically proven. Just search for articles on last years tsunami and animals and earthquakes. they can sense any kind of immenint danger.

Answer 9

yes monkeys and birds too