[Animals] Can animals predict earthquakes?

[#Wittels-]

There is scientific evidence that supports the theory that animals can predict earthquakes. ( Unsplash )

It has long been suggested that animals behave differently than usual shortly before an earthquake.

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According to anecdotes, some wild animals leave their sleeping places before strong earthquakes strike, and pets, such as dogs, become particularly restless.

The oldest known reference to unusual animal behavior before a significant earthquake is from Greece in 373 BC, when an earthquake destroyed the city of Helix. Rats, weasels and snakes are said to have left the area and made their way to safety several days earlier.

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So, can animals predict earthquakes? There is scientific evidence that supports this idea. Just like seismic machines, animals are equipped to sense small pre-tremors that travel through the Earth seconds before the most powerful seismic waves are triggered.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the abnormal behavior of animals in the seconds preceding an earthquake is explained by the difference between two seismic waveforms.

Primary, or P, waves are the first emitted by an earthquake, traveling several kilometers per second from the epicenter. These are most noticeable to animals, the USGS says. The P waves are followed by stronger secondary waves or S waves, which shake the ground in an undulating motion.

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“Very few humans notice the smaller P wave that travels faster from the earthquake source and arrives before the larger S wave,” the USGS statement states. "But many animals with keener senses can feel the P wave seconds before the S wave arrives."

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Chips to detect animal behavior
One of the most important investigations into how animals could predict disasters was carried out five years ago by a team led by Martin Wikelski of the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Germany.

The study consisted of recording the movement patterns of different animals (cows, sheep and dogs), a process known as biologging, on a farm in the earthquake-prone Marche region of central Italy. Each animal was fitted with chip collars, which sent movement data to a central computer every few minutes between October 2016 and April 2017.

During this period, official statistics recorded more than 18,000 earthquakes in the region, ranging from small tremors of magnitude 0.4 to a dozen earthquakes of magnitude 4 or greater, including the devastating magnitude 6.6 Norcia earthquake.

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The researchers found evidence that farm animals began to change their behavior up to 20 hours before an earthquake. Whenever the monitored farm animals were collectively 50% more active for more than 45 minutes at a time, the researchers predicted an earthquake with a magnitude greater than 4.0.

Seven of the eight strong earthquakes were correctly predicted in this way.

 

Link: https://www.ecuavisa.com/tendencias/curiosidades/pueden-los-animales-predecir-los-terremotos-BA5002535