[NYer]

I have a friend who is native born Italian. He has often spoken of similar animal behavior in Italy just prior to an earthquake. Your thoughts?

[Walkingfeather]

I remember a class room here in california that had a fish in an aquarium that would begin swimming on its side 12 hours before a quake.

[Larebil]

It is true, animals that have sensitive foot pads(dogs).
Snakes find their prey by vibrations made from the movement of what they are trying to eat.
They know if it is a large creature(herd) or small like a mouse.
They sense the vibrations of the earth prior to an earthquake and it throws them off.
It is not esp but sensitivity to environment.

[Puppage]

He has often spoken of similar animal behavior in Italy just prior to an earthquake. Your thoughts?

All one needs to remember is the tsunami in Thailand......hours before it hit all the animals make their way to the hills.

[onedoug]

“Only idiots and liars predict earthquakes.” —Charles Richter

[lexusppd]

I have read of many instances of strange animal behavior prior to an earthquake. The thought is the hearing of animals, being far more acute then is ours, is able to hear the very low frequency sounds of the shifting plates in the area and also feel the ground vibration as slight as it is prior to the actual quake.

[indcons]

Yes, they definitely can. I’m aware of a few incidents like these having formerly lived in a region with active tectonic activity. Pets tend to become more withdrawn while wild animals flee the epicenter.

I’m a very rational person but don’t doubt these accounts in the slightest. They seem to be a part of animals’ survival instincts.

[RightWhale]

Animals have different sensitivity. Maybe they hear something or smell something in the air. We’re more visual and unless the sky gets weird we probably wouldn’t notice anything.

[SweetCaroline]

Yep, just before we have one here in California, my cats and dog go nuts.

[ukie55]

This has been observed for years and they’re just figuring this out?

I wonder how many lives would have been saved if they had used animal behavior as a predictor?

[Myrddin]

I have a friend who is native born Italian. He has often spoken of similar animal behavior in Italy just prior to an earthquake. Your thoughts?

Jim Berkland (CA seismologist who predicted the Loma Prieta quake) watches the "missing pets" listings in the news paper as a covert means of observing animal behavior before a quake. Rates of missing pets reports appear to rise prior to an earthquake.