Common toads can predict earthquakes

For ages, mankind has craved a tool that can provide early warning of that terrifying moment when the earth begins to shake - and if a scientific paper published on Wednesday is confirmed, we may at last have found one.The best hope yet of an earthquake predictor could lie in a small, brown, knobbly amphibian, it suggests. The male common toad (Bufo bufo) gave five days' warning of the earthquake that ravaged the town of L'Aquila in central Italy on April 6, 2009, killing more than 300 people and displacing 40,000 others, the study says. Read more... Thanks B???

More details to the above article: Karlis -=-=- "Our study is one of the first to document animal behaviour before, during and after an earthquake," says lead author Dr Rachel Grant. "Our findings suggest that toads are able to detect pre-seismic cues such as the release of gases and charged particles, and use these as a form of earthquake early warning system." She reckons the toads were responding to the release of radon gas, triggered by changes in the ionosphere, 50km up. Disruptions in the ionosphere were found using very low frequency (VLF) radio sounding at the same time as the toads al... [More]

Thanks B??? Thanks behaviour! That is good news and Jim Berkland was on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory less than an hour ago mentioning this Italian toad study! "In the quest to find an earthquake predictor, elephants, horses, wolves, snakes and fish have all been variously put forward." Jim would also suggest watching the lost and found pets column in your paper. He counts the cats and dogs missing in the San Francisco, California area. He watches the ocean tides very closely also. http://www.syzygyjob.com/ The BBC has a picture too... http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_859... [More]