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Watch that toad -  can toads sense earthquakes?

Scientists believe that unusual behaviour by toads before earthquakes suggest that they can sense the seismic activity days before.

The common Toad (Bufo bufo) is said to sense seismic activity Photo: Karamell

Keeping an eye on the toads in your neighbourhood could give you a five-day head start in the event of massive seismic activity, says a new study published by the Zoological Society of London in the Journal of Zoology, but don't put one in a jar on your desk just yet.

Researchers from the UK's Open University reported that 96 percent of common male toads (Bufo bufo) in a population had abandoned their breeding site five days before a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck L'Aquila in central Italy in 2009.

"Our study is one of the first to document animal behaviour before, during and after an earthquake. 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," said Dr Rachel Grant, lead author of the report.

Other environmental changes that affect toad behaviour, like lunar phases and changing weather conditions, were accounted for during the mass exodus from the breeding site, 74km from the earthquake's epicentre.

Michelle Grobbelaar, Seismology Analyst at the South African Council for Geoscience, said reports of animals exhibiting unusual behaviour before a catastrophic natural disaster were not uncommon, but the practical implementation of using animals for forewarning would be tricky. "How reliable is it going to be? There are lots of things that make animals react in strange ways," she told IRIN.

Most of the evidence for animals exhibiting strange behaviour - anywhere from weeks to seconds before an earthquake - has been anecdotal. -IRIN

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This article © IRIN. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.

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