Animals may sense a change in ground water when an earthquake is about to strike!

Scientists have discovered that animals could help us to predict future earthquakes.

Researchers began to investigate these chemical effects after seeing a colony of toads abandon its pond in Italy just days before the quake. They suggested, that in future, animal behaviour could be incorporated into earthquake forecasting! Animals that live in or near groundwater are highly sensitive to any changes in its chemistry, so they might sense this days before the rocks may slip and cause a quake.

In China, many people spotted snakes emerging from their burrows a month before the city was hit by a large earthquake. This was particularly odd, because it occurred during the winter. The snakes were in the middle of their annual hibernation, and with the temperatures well below freezing, venturing outside was suicide for the cold-blooded reptiles.