Scientific papers published in the Journal of Zoology yesterday revealed that the common toad (Bufo Bufo) may feel the earthquake will happen and they left the colony a few days before the seismic event to hit the region.
Evidence of the ability of toads predict the earthquake was indicated by a group of frogs who leave their breeding colonies three days before the earthquake shook the L'Aquila in Italy in 2009. How the reptile could feel the earthquake is still unknown, but most couples who are doing the activity of male frogs to breed and run away from that location.
The reaction was shown by a population of frogs, although the colony was located 74 kilometers from the center of the earthquake epicenter. British biologist has said in the Journal of Zoology. Difficult to conduct objective studies and quality of how animals respond to seismic activity, partly because of the quake was rare and unpredictable.
Numerous studies have been done on how pets react to the earthquake, but measuring the response of wild animals is far more difficult. Animals that never shows his reaction, such as fish, rodents, and snakes are also new to react for a moment before the earthquake struck, not a few days before the event.
However, Dr Rachel Grant, biologists from the Open University in Milton Keynes, England, routinely study the behavior of frogs daily diverse colonies in Italy, including at major quake shook the region. His study includes data collection in a period of 29 days, ie before, during, and after the earthquake shaking Italy on April 6, 2009. An earthquake measuring 6.3 magnitude, was close to the City of L'Aquila, about 95 kilometers northeast of Rome.
Grant is studying the frogs around 74 miles away from Lake San Ruffino in central Italy, when he recorded the strange behavior of the frog. Five days before the earthquake, the number of male frogs at the breeding colony was down to 96 percent.
Disappearance of the male frog was very strange because, once the time arrives to breed, they usually remain active until it meets the breeding place of the breeding season is complete. At the moment the earthquake struck, the breeding season at Lake San Ruffino has just begun. In addition, there is no weather event can be connected with the disappearance of frogs.
Three days before the earthquake, the number of pairs of mating frogs also suddenly dropped to zero.
Although the eggs found at that location until six days before the earthquake, and six days later, no eggs found at the time of the earthquake period, starting the first major jolt to the last aftershock. "Our study is the first time documented the behavior of animals before, during and after the earthquake," said Grant.
He convinced the frog to escape to higher ground. Maybe a place that protect them from the risk of stone rubble, landslides, and floods.
How the frog can feel the seismic activity that occurred before are still unclear. Changes in behavior of frog thought to coincide with disturbances in the ionosphere, a layer of electromagnetic top of the earth's atmosphere, which was detected by scientists at L'Aquila during the earthquake, using the technique of radio voices in the very low frequency (VLF). Such changes in the atmosphere by a number of scientists associated with the escape of radon gas or gravitational waves just before the earthquake.
In the case of earthquake L'Aquila, Grant can not be sure what caused the disturbance in the ionosphere. But his findings showed that the frogs can detect something. "Our findings indicate that the frog is able to detect praseismik instructions, such as the escape of gas and charged particles, and use it as a form of earthquake early warning system," he said.