Dogs and The Earthquakes?
In all of the major earthquakes, strange animal movements that started a few days before the earthquake occurred are recorded. Well, “Could the reaction of animals be a harbinger of it?”
Research has proven that the electromagnetic field generated by the earthquake can be felt by many animals. For this reason, the possibility of such creatures to know it in advance has attracted the attention of society and researchers throughout history.
It has not been scientifically proven which animal species feel more seismic activities. There are clues that fish and reptiles are more sensitive, but the reactions of dogs are the most common. The probable reason for this is that they are in our immediate environment. Still, some researchers rank the dog among the most sensitive ones.
Do dogs feel all earthquakes?
Low-frequency sounds, earth crust vibrations, gravity anomalies, changes in the slope of the ground and seismic waves are changes in the earth’s surface during a seismic activity. Some natural phenomena occur such as the odours of various gases (such as radon), ionization changes in the air, and especially electromagnetic field changes. Dogs can feel, thanks to their developed sense organs.
However, in some seismic activities, the intensity of these electromagnetic waves is low. But this time, thanks to their sensitive sense of smell, they can perceive gas or similar smells that emerge. Thanks to experience from their ancestors, they know that when they smell such a smell, danger comes behind them.
Dogs can comfortably hear sounds that are 20 thousand to 80 thousand vibrations/second. The vibrations under the ground are heard by dogs before they reach a scale that can shock people. In particular, it doesn’t seem difficult for dogs to feel the real jolting waves.
Aquatic animals can easily sense the seismic activities in advance, as they are extremely sensitive to chemical changes in the water.
Which reactions do they give before?
In the experimental environment prepared in the research conducted at Osaka University in 1996, the animals were taken into an artificially created electromagnetic field. The panicked escape and uneasiness of them were viewed from the camera. It has been observed that these responses vary according to the distance of the animal from centre, the nature of it and its individual characteristics. But they often showed signs of fear and anxiety.
China has started a mass preparedness program against a possible seismic activity since 1970. In 1974, as the expectation for an earthquake increased, more than 100 thousand observers were assigned to observe possible precursors of it such as animal behaviour, water resources, air and water temperature, plants. In December 1974, settlements were evacuated due to abnormalities in animal movements and as a result of the 7.3-scale earthquake, nothing happened to anyone. However, the animals did not perform the same in subsequent earthquakes.
Can we trust animals about the earthquake?
The characteristics of earthquakes and animal responses are not standard. Some animals may not respond to it, others may not respond to one earthquake and not another. The responses given may not be seismic activity specific. It is not possible to understand the exact time by watching animal behaviour, but it is possible to receive signals that the earthquake is coming.
Strange behaviours that occur suddenly in most animals living in a large area should be observed by experienced people. It is important for geophysicists to evaluate these data together with other natural events experienced before seismic activity. As a result of these evaluations, findings that an earthquake will occur can be found.