You're laying back on a sleepy afternoon with your head in a good book, when out of nowhere and for no apparent reason, your normally lethargic and docile dog becomes extremely frantic, almost spastic, he barks and pants uncontrollably and can't be comforted at all.
All of a sudden, within minutes of your dog's seemingly unexplainable outburst, you feel an earthquake.
You have to wonder: Was your dog actually trying to warn you? At the Alaska Earthquake Information Center, they are true believers, as they have witnessed this phenomenon first hand.
In the summer of 2002, a dog names Fats, who belonged to Josh Stachnik, the center's newest employee at the time, correctly sensed and alerted them to two earthquakes.
One of the two was the powerful Denali Earthquake, which was the worst of 2002.
Because of Fat's warnings, many people were actually saved.
Seismologists in Japan are serious about studying how animals can be used to develop an effective early warning system against earthquakes.
A former head of the Kobe Muicipal Zoo, Masayoshi Gondo, is optimistic that furthering such studies will save countless lives when earthquakes strike Japan in the future.
"Dogs and cats tell you a quake is going to happen with just enough time left over to make your escape.
", claims Mitauki Ota; who is a respected veterinary science professor at the Azabu University.
According to Ota, it is a well recorded fact that during the Great killer Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, that killed 6,000, many pets in the area caused such a commotion that their owners had to take them outside, this actually saved many lives.
A lot of people attribute such abilities to a sixth sense; that many people believe some animal possess.
Scientists are working on other theories, but thus far there is nothing conclusive.
As yet there is no real explanation of how pets can predict earthquakes.
A common theory if that cats and dogs are more sensitive to vibrations in the ground than humans, they can thus actually feel the initial stages of a quake.
Like all mammals, and including humans, cat and dogs have sensors called Pacinian corpuscles in their paws and joints.
These sensors are more developed in cats and dogs than in people.
Other theories speculate that cats and dogs can detect electrical changes in the ambient air.
Others still, have to do with the Earth's electromagnetic field just before a quake.
The bottom line though is that most have accepted that dogs and cats can detect earthquakes.
Instead of asking why, what we should do is learn how to use pets to save lives when Earthquakes happen in the future.
All of a sudden, within minutes of your dog's seemingly unexplainable outburst, you feel an earthquake.
You have to wonder: Was your dog actually trying to warn you? At the Alaska Earthquake Information Center, they are true believers, as they have witnessed this phenomenon first hand.
In the summer of 2002, a dog names Fats, who belonged to Josh Stachnik, the center's newest employee at the time, correctly sensed and alerted them to two earthquakes.
One of the two was the powerful Denali Earthquake, which was the worst of 2002.
Because of Fat's warnings, many people were actually saved.
Seismologists in Japan are serious about studying how animals can be used to develop an effective early warning system against earthquakes.
A former head of the Kobe Muicipal Zoo, Masayoshi Gondo, is optimistic that furthering such studies will save countless lives when earthquakes strike Japan in the future.
"Dogs and cats tell you a quake is going to happen with just enough time left over to make your escape.
", claims Mitauki Ota; who is a respected veterinary science professor at the Azabu University.
According to Ota, it is a well recorded fact that during the Great killer Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, that killed 6,000, many pets in the area caused such a commotion that their owners had to take them outside, this actually saved many lives.
A lot of people attribute such abilities to a sixth sense; that many people believe some animal possess.
Scientists are working on other theories, but thus far there is nothing conclusive.
As yet there is no real explanation of how pets can predict earthquakes.
A common theory if that cats and dogs are more sensitive to vibrations in the ground than humans, they can thus actually feel the initial stages of a quake.
Like all mammals, and including humans, cat and dogs have sensors called Pacinian corpuscles in their paws and joints.
These sensors are more developed in cats and dogs than in people.
Other theories speculate that cats and dogs can detect electrical changes in the ambient air.
Others still, have to do with the Earth's electromagnetic field just before a quake.
The bottom line though is that most have accepted that dogs and cats can detect earthquakes.
Instead of asking why, what we should do is learn how to use pets to save lives when Earthquakes happen in the future.
Source...