Did Zoo Animals Anticipate the August East Coast Earthquake?

  • By Joseph Stromberg
  • Smithsonian magazine, October 2011, Subscribe
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Orangutan
Some animals at the National Zoo detected the east coast earthquake before it hit. (Mehgan Murphy / NZP, SI)

According to staffers at the national zoo, some animals behaved unusually before the August 23 earthquake. “The orangutan, Kyle (left), and the gorilla, Kojo, five to ten seconds beforehand, they left their food and went to the top of the trees,” said Don Moore, the Zoo’s associate director of animal care. The animals may have detected the “P waves” that hit Washington, D.C. about 15 seconds before the more violent “surface waves.”

But can animals foretell disaster? Not likely. “Such a claim has been made for a very long time,” says Callan Bentley, a geologist at Northern Virginia Community College. “But people are matching up unrelated events.”


According to staffers at the national zoo, some animals behaved unusually before the August 23 earthquake. “The orangutan, Kyle (left), and the gorilla, Kojo, five to ten seconds beforehand, they left their food and went to the top of the trees,” said Don Moore, the Zoo’s associate director of animal care. The animals may have detected the “P waves” that hit Washington, D.C. about 15 seconds before the more violent “surface waves.”

But can animals foretell disaster? Not likely. “Such a claim has been made for a very long time,” says Callan Bentley, a geologist at Northern Virginia Community College. “But people are matching up unrelated events.”

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Comments (1)

I seen a television show where they showed squid near a volcano relocate before it erupted;so I do believe all creatures have abilities that astonish and defy curiosities!

Posted by Marcellus Kelley on October 18,2011 | 10:36 AM



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