“Earthquakes, like the one that struck today in Chile–which, at the time of this writing, is believed to have claimed 147 lives–are all the more devastating for their unpredictable nature. While geologists have resources available to indicate a probability of when a quake will strike, such as measuring seismic pressures or observing changes in magnetic fields, it is still impossible to provide any short-term notice to threatened communities–a notice that would undoubtedly save countless lives. Although geologists may be incapable of putting communities on alert, however, recent disasters are strengthening theories that some animals may be able to ‘sense’ impending earthquakes.
Seismologists in Guangxi Province, China, believe that snakes may be the most sensitive to subtle vibrations which precede a quake–predicting the disaster about 120 hours prior to the major event. The snakes are monitored 24 hours a day to observe any erratic behavior. According to the researchers, before an earthquake the snakes have been seen acting unusually, repeatedly throwing themselves against the walls of their enclosures.”
Read more at Treehugger
That’s impressive
I remember a guy on my masters course 5 years ago doing his thesis on animal reaction to the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004. Primates in particular showed an earlier reaction to the pending catastrophe.
That’s Impressive!, and on “bring your pet to work day” to.
Not to burst your bubble, but these animals aren’t “forseeing” a future earthquake here. It’s akin to a dog hearing a car approaching from a further distance away than a human could. It isn’t “forecasting” in any sense of the word, just a greater refinement in their senses.
To put it more simply, a near-sighted man with his glasses could say his eagle-eyed friend “foresees” the arrival of a friend walking down the street but it has nothing to do with either “predicting” anything. It’s present-time awareness.
Secondly, the animals aren’t “sensing” an upcoming earthquake but whatever seismic disturbances are happening NOW that causally come first before the earthquake. Assuming this capability even exists in animals (which I have no idea).
Thanks
sam, i think thats pretty much what’s being assumed. It would be rather strange if humans could sense earthquakes before all other animals, so inevitably this happens.
Here the video accompanies a paragraph about the earthquake in Chile, however, if you click into the Youtube page, the video description mentions Haiti instead. If the Telegraph is to be trusted, the video appears to originate from California.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6994896/Dog-bolts-to-help-owner-after-sensing-earthquake-video.html
why not snakes? crawling with their entire bodies on the ground would make em more sensitive to earth changes.
Sam, stop arguing a completely useless point and go do something worthwhile. Everyone who actually read the article knows the title didn’t imply psychic premonitions or such garbage.
This is really interesting. While it’s only a slight heads-up (by the looks of it), it’s still impressive. I do hope no animals are abused attempting to utilize this, though.
The dog takes off pretty close to the quake. I was in one quake in Santa Monica a few years ago where I could hear the thing coming like a train (the epicenter was offshore). There’s a good chance the dog was simply startled by the rumbling sound just ahead of the shaking.
I’m not surprised by this. Wildlife around the world is much more attuned to the planet naturally than humans are. As we have evolved and become reliant on computers, engineering etc we have lost touch with natural behaviours. Scientists have alos said that they believed humans could once ‘feel’ things before they occured, i don’t mean this in a psychic way, i mean as in they could feel a drop in pressure that would prelude an incoming storm for example, wildlife is only doing what comes naturally to it…it’s all about survival.
The guy sat behind the pillar moves pretty soon after the dog, you can see his chair swing round as he gets up just after the dog runs away.
Why so much criticism of my comment? The article is entitled with the word “foresee” right in there and the verbiage is contained throughout the article. I came here via the Twitter link precisely based on that wording. Is asking people to write journalistic articles in standard English so much?
Im my maligned opinion, I would’ve written this article entitled “Can Animals WARN about Natural Disasters”.
I won’t even get into the fact that the Chinese (Com) gov’t has a vested cultural interest in promoting this line of thought that animals sense earthquakes, something they’ve been promoting for 40 years, etc, etc.
wholook, you’re correct… that video is from Eureka, California. That was a magnitude 6-something earthquake that we had here in January. The reactions of animals to these sorts of things are really fascinating… I’ve heard so much about how animals react to natural disasters, but at the time of this quake (the biggest I’ve ever felt, and I’ve been through a few now), I was at the stables surrounded by over 40 horses, none of whom really reacted at all. They just waited for the earth to stop shaking and then went on about their business.