How Animals Predict Earthquakes

[ysabetwordsmith]

Motion-activated cameras show that animal activity drops dramatically before an earthquake. 

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Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

The hypothesis in the article had to do with charged electrons. Others have proposed emission of gases, subsonic waves, changes in ground vibration, etc. Likely it is a combination of factors.

The ground vibration has separate backing: Californian horses are used to microquakes, but out-of-state ones are not so it makes them very anxious. If you want to race them, you have to bring them weeks early so they can acclimate. Otherwise they almost always lose the race. So they not only sense very subtle ground vibration, it has a dramatic effect on them. This makes sense in a prey species for whom the footfalls of a predator signal a serious threat.