Toads may be able to predict earthquakes, study says
BEIJING. April 2. KAZINFORM Biologists at the Open University in Britain have found that the common toad may react to an impending earthquake days before the actual tremor, Kazinform refers to Xinhuanet.
Researchers found that 96 percent of male toads abandoned a breeding site 74km from the epicentre of the earthquake that hit L'Aquila, Italy in 2009, up to five days before it struck. The number of pairs at the site dropped to zero three days before the quake, according to the study published in the Zoological Society of London's Journal of Zoology.
It is unclear how the toads sensed the 6.3 magnitude quake, but scientists believe the toads could be able to detect environmental changes, such as the release of gases or charged particles from the ground, before seismic events.
Some studies have been conducted to see how domestic animals respond, but measuring the response of wild animals is more difficult. Even those that have been shown to react, such as fish, rodents and snakes tend to do so only shortly before an earthquakes strikes, rather than days ahead of the event.
This most recent discovery was made by biologist Dr Rachel Grant of the Open University who was routinely studying the behavior of various colonies of common toads on a daily basis in Italy around the time of the L'Aquila earthquake. Her studies included a 29-day period gathering data before, during and after the earthquake that hit Italy on April 6, 2009. Dr Grant was studying toads 74km away in San Ruffino Lake in central Italy, when she recorded the toads behaving oddly. "Our study is one of the first to document animal behavior before, during and after an earthquake," said Dr Grant.
As well as the departure of the frogs, there was no fresh toad spawn laid at the spot from the date the earthquake struck to the last significant aftershock of more than 4.5 on the Richter scale. While spawn was found at the site up to six days before the earthquake, and again six days after it, no spawn was laid during the so-called earthquake period. Dr Grant believes the toads fled to higher ground, possibly where they would be at less risk from rock falls, landslides and flooding, Kazinform cites Xinhuanet. See www.news.xinhuanet.com