Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Can animals sense earthquakes before they happen?




The aftershocks appear to be over now and after experiencing my first real earthquake in a non-earthquake area I have but one question…do animals know before an earthquake happens?

I’m still vacuuming up glass and my cat and dog appear to be back to normal.  Yesterday before the quake, they were not!

Seismologists laugh at the notion of animals predicting these catastrophes.’ And studies have failed since there is no way for us, only humans, to predict a quake in order to study animal behavior. 

I have heard that it is not uncommon for cats and dogs to behave erratically before a quake.  Many pets go missing as well.  And they don’t find a lot of animal bodies in the rubble.  Our four legged friends somehow know and prepare.

Early yesterday my dog was extremely antsy.  My cat, Olivia, disappeared somewhere in the house and I couldn’t find her in any of her hiding places, odd behavior for a cat that so loves her breakfast.  My stepdaughter was asleep and her dog woke her up right before the tremors started.  I had to go over to my brother’s house to help him look for his cat that went missing.  Olivia reappeared around 10 p.m. last night long after the last aftershock. Not exactly a study, I know, and I am aware that it has been 100 years since the last quake, but still just to be sure, I’m sticking with the pets… “Here kitty, kitty, kitty.”


Maybe not that one!  He looks a wee bit scarier than the quake!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think they do,, they know when storms are coming so I think must know. We should listen to the animals,,they are in some ways smarter than we are.Oh and thats a beautiful cat!

Carol Blackburn said...

Oh my Crystal, this cat's name should be YODA....he looks like Yoda with those ears. May the force be with him. Or maybe it was, that's why there was an earthquake?

Craftymoose Crafts said...

I do believe animals can sense a quake. Back in the 70s my husband and a friend were in Yellowstone Park when all of a sudden they saw animals running all in one direction. Shortly after that, there was a quake.

Gail H. Ragsdale said...

Yes, they definitely do. Right before the 6.1 quake that hit while we lived in Bradbury, CA, our cats were sleeping on the bed with us and all of a sudden they took off. Seconds later the earthquake hit. One of our cats was really shook by the quake and the aftershocks would send him to hiding in the closet.

Wanda said...

I do believe animals sense that type of thing.

I really love your cat drawing. So real...those eyes...great!

Magic Love Crow said...

I believe animals do sense things. Have you ever been outside before a thunder storm? Totally quiet. No birds are singing and there is no squirrels to be found. They know what they are doing! I hate when people say animals are stupid! We are the stupid ones!

Anonymous said...

I really liked the article, and the very cool blog

Valerie-Jael said...

I am sure they can! We even saw the earthquake on out TV here, they showed pictures and said how rare it is in the east of the USA! Valerie
Hope you are soon all back to *normal*

Heather said...

Yes, I was wondering the same? I think they can - are they acting we should plan to keep watch on them before the big hurricane this weekend - happy thursday

Judy Adamson said...

Yes, I'm sure their senses are attuned to things we fail to pick up.

Beuatiful cat painting, Crystal!

Lee Pierce said...

Lovely cat's eyes! I remember my dog trying to warn me about a quake very early one morning. I tried to continue sleeping but gave up when everything began rattling. Loved the Nat'l Zoo info :D

maddyrose said...

It sounds to me that the study is conclusive and yes, animals can predict the weather and can be used as an early warning system. Love the painting.

Heather said...

crystal, my husband told me about this and I thought of you right away - hope you can follow this link
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/170468/288/National-Zoo-animals-more-active-before-earthquake

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