There has long been the notion that animals can somehow sense that an earthquake is imminent. The observation is that animals suddenly withdraw and go silent before a quake. While there is plenty of anecdotal evidence for this phenomenon, there has been little solid proof; that is, until recently.
Researchers studying animal behavior in Peru’s Yanachanga National Park set up a series of motion-activated cameras to observe activity at ground level. They filmed rodents and other ground dwellers going about their daily lives.
In 2011, a few weeks before the 7.0 magnitude Contamana earthquake hit the area, the cameras recorded something remarkable. The animals suddenly dropped out of sight. Animal activity started decreasing noticeably about 23 days before the quake. For five of the seven days immediately before the quake, the cameras picked up no animal movements of any sort. For a place normally teeming with animal activity, this was extremely unusual. This may have been the first time that the ability of animals to sense earthquakes in advance has been documented.
So what is going on? The theory is that changes in the surface of the Earth produce electrically charged molecules that induce stressors – biological changes – in the animals which in turn cause elevated serotonin levels in their bloodstreams. This creates discomfort, which causes the animals to depart the area.
Apparently, animals have the potential to be reliable forecasters of earthquakes and could be used in conjunction with more technological monitoring systems. Rainforest animals might be very useful to us and we only have to keep an eye on them to make this happen.
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Now We Know It’s True: Animals Can Predict Earthquakes
Photo, posted March 13, 2011, courtesy of the Official U.S. Navy Page via Flickr.
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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.