The residents probably couldn’t figure out why their animals were freaking out...
Animals can predict weather, so to speak, not so sure about this though. Not a natural event.
On the morning of October 1, 1987, I noticed something odd when I fed my cat. Although she usually gobbled down her food, she only took a couple bites and then ran into the bushes. I went back inside, and about a minute later, a major earthquake struck. I figured she probably felt the P wave, the first seismic wave sent out at the start of an earthquake, which most humans don't feel. Maybe those animals felt something similar.