In many parts of the world, including our country, earthquakes are the most feared natural disasters that cause the most damage. Knowing that more than 845 people lost their lives and nearly 5000 were injured in the 1999 Düzce earthquake in our country will help us understand how devastating earthquakes can be.
The animals with whom we share the same planet are also among those who suffer from the destruction caused by these earthquakes. Scientists, on the other hand, are trying to find out if different animal species, from dogs to wild animals and even insects, can detect earthquakes beforehand.
Do our animal friends know about earthquakes in advance?
Researchers analyzed 180 publications reporting that 700 animals exhibited ‘abnormal’ behavior before 160 earthquakes. According to the results, the relationship between the behavior of animals and earthquakes is quite weak. Stating that the reason for this is ‘remembering bias’ and selective perception, the researchers state that after the earthquake, people may have believed that ‘animals behaved strangely’.
Scientists say the only way to tell if animals really detect earthquakes beforehand is to keep our cute friends under surveillance for a long time. This period should be long enough to observe how the animals behaved before and after the earthquake. In addition, the researchers state that it is necessary to constantly record the behavior of animals in order to understand whether the movements of animals during or before the earthquake are ‘abnormal’, and they state that the amount they have is insufficient at the moment.
Still, animals can be more ‘careful’ than we are
The researchers think that the strange behavior of animals before the earthquake is not instinctive when they examine the small amount of data they have. The main reason for this strange behavior of animals is thought to be because they can detect vibrations that humans cannot feel during pre-earthquakes.
Considering that the perception of most animals is much more developed than that of humans, this result is not surprising. Also, considering that these strange behaviors of animals occur about 5 minutes before earthquakes, this possibility starts to seem quite logical.
It seems quite possible that these abnormal and strange behaviors of animals are purely coincidental and that people want to believe that ‘animals have fantastic powers’.
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