Frog Migration: Omen to China Earthquake Disaster
On May 5th, many Chinese locals noticed thousands of frogs on the move. They were seen traveling without fear of traffic as they crossed streets in mass floods.
Many Chinese sensed the migration as a bad omen of a coming natural disaster, but the Chinese government told them that it was just a natural migration for the purpose of propagation. This calmed the people and no one took the omen very seriously.
On Monday, 12th of May, at about 2:45pm, central China region recorded a 7.8-magnitude quake which occured near Wenchuan County, Sichuan province, that killed nearly 10,000 people.
Many civilian houses and roads were collapsed and damaged. In one Dujiangyan city middle school, 900 students and teachers were buried in the collapsed building, at least 50 were killed.
The quake was the largest the region has seen for over a generation. It was so strong, even countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong felt the shake.
Many people are now calling the Chinese Earthquake Test Centers “useless”, as they were unable to even detect the earthquake before it happened. When they finally announced the earthquake had occured, it was 12 minutes after the disaster, and 2 minutes after the US had announced a large earthquake in China.
As for the Frogs and their omen, Chinese scientists stated animals have much better sense than human on detecting the natural disasters like this.
So much for “migration for propagation”.
(link)
By Mui Mui on 13-05-2008
Comment by grace
May 13th, 2008 at 6:48 am
what do you expect with a stupid government?
Comment by Elliott
May 13th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Which Chinese locals were these? Where were these frogs doing the migration? For all we know it could be the other end of the country and you’re just spinning a yarn. Also, Earthquakes can’t be detected anyway before they happen, they just happen. All we can do is surmise where they might occur, and I’m sure people already knew that area was a risk.
Comment by darkwing duck
May 13th, 2008 at 10:00 am
!!!!!
___
{ }
So the Earthquake Test Centers are useless
Comment by Aikyrie
May 13th, 2008 at 10:12 am
A little superstitious
Comment by jack
May 13th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Well,please tell us what you would like to have happened? The gov should have prepared for a disaster based on some frogs?
Comment by SuperSparky
May 13th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Actually, it has been documented that animals can be an excellent indicator for earthquakes and other similar natural events. This has nothing to do with mysticism or a “sixth sense”. Many animals are sensitive to magnetic fluctuations, pressure anomalies, slight odors and other things that can be scientifically explained.
Just because humans can’t sense something, doesn’t mean animals can’t either. Perhaps they could sense slight pressure changes in the ground caused by compressing rock under severe stress. It’s like rats jumping ship. The animals usually know something first.
Think of it this way. Frogs live in water. Water conducts sound and vibrations many times better than air. This water is sitting on rock, which conducts sound just as well as water. Perhaps they were hearing something unusual that caused their behavior.
Never discount the scientific opportunities animals can give in situations like this.
Sure, some societies may attach “omens” or superstitions to this, but usually because bad things usually happen after such unusual animal behavior. There just may be something non-mystical to it.
Comment by Sun Tzu
May 13th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Exactly.. Why did they not properly observe the frogs.
Comment by Charlie
May 13th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
It’s pretty impossible to dect an eathquake before it happens so it’s not suprising the centre couldn’t detect it. They are caused by sudden shifts as the plates slip under enourmous pressure.
Perhaps the frogs could detect it, but how the hell would anyone know what the frogs were on about? ‘Bad Omen’ is a little vague don’t you think? I know the first thing that would come to my mind wouldn’t be; “Oh look the frogs are predicting a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in about 7 days! Better stay clear of all buildings for the next week.”
Clever frogs
Comment by Ummm
May 13th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
It was definitely a 7.9 on the richter scale.
Comment by omozali
May 13th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
There are usually subtle signs of a coming earth quake that only animals can sense, probably very fine vibrations that precede the big event.
Comment by Anonymous Coward
May 13th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
SuperSparky’s right on. Another predictor of earthquakes I’ve seen the Chinese point to is snakes coming out of hibernation in the winter and slithering in the snow and ice. Seismologists think it could be because the ground is warming up due to impending liquefaction.
Comment by DARKWING DUCK
May 13th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
The Chinese began a systematic study of this unusual animal behavior and in December 1974 predicted a major earthquake that did, in fact, occur in February 1975. But skeptics claim to debunk nearly all such observations. In fact, the 1975 prediction relied most heavily on a series of strong foreshocks. The animal behavior reports are often ambiguous and not consistently observed. There is little evidence for animals being able to sense impending earthquakes, although it is likely they can sense the initial, weaker P-waves before people. Seismometers remain much more sensitive than even the animals, however.
In folklore, some animals have had more reports of being able to predict earthquakes than others, especially dogs, cats, chickens, horses, and other smaller animals. There have been reports with elephants, as well. Goats, cows, and most larger animals are generally reported as being less able to predict earthquakes.
Comment by sir jorge
May 13th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
it’s just the beginning! This has the makings for a horror movie of sorts.
Comment by hopeless
May 13th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
they must observe the frog movement. they are inteligent than human.
Comment by sampine
May 13th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
your comment proves what you are trying to say
Comment by Me
May 14th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Shopped.
Comment by mme defarge
May 14th, 2008 at 8:03 am
some folks must have had a feast anyway.
Comment by n
May 14th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
“your comment proves what you are trying to say”
oh shi-
Comment by kim
May 15th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Legends from China and India say the world rests on the back of a giant three-legged frog. If the frog moves, it causes an earthquake.
Comment by Oly
May 15th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
It’s a tragedy, but animals have shown this before, in the colder states you see this every winter. If the squirrels build a bigger nest then normal the farmers say a colder than normal winter, if they gather food in the fall like their starving it’s another sign.
I would rather take a false warning and run with it then CROAK because of not wanting to be superstitious.
Comment by sultan_azteca
May 15th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
China is too big! you sure it was in the same area as the earthquake??? It wouldn’t help much to San Franciscans if clouds of locusts behaved weirdly in Wyoming, sensing an uncoming earthquake on the West Coast! The article doesn’t state that clearly.
And were the frogs trying to steer clear from danger? If so, they are not so bright! The picture shows a big pile of them squashed on the road! I guess being run over by a bike is a better death than dying trapped under tons of rubble…
Comment by Jack
May 15th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Ad hominem, your comment attacks the claimer rather than the claim; your comment is logically fallacious.
Comment by Jack
May 15th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
They’re frogs … what did you expect? Them suddenly developing higher brain functions and making little frog rockets to fly them to safety?
Comment by passbyer
May 15th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
This article is misleading. actually the place of frog migration is thousand miles away to where the earthquake happened. hardly the two can be linked together.
Without investigation, harshly criticize somebody only makes you lose credibility
Comment by Gursharan
May 17th, 2008 at 12:57 am
It may seem awkward to many but history is proof enough that gravity was discovered by the fall of an apple. Human mind is good at interpretation and reasoning but at times all interpretations and reasonings hold no meaning for something what we term as a nature’s way of communicating. Its upto us to observe and act.
Comment by Aleks
May 18th, 2008 at 12:15 am
you are a moron, they can detect earthquakes using a sismograph which detects vibrations in the earth to predict earthquakes
Comment by frank
May 18th, 2008 at 1:26 am
wonder how much frog soup was made?
Comment by Alec
May 18th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
This is actually very incorrect. Animals can’t sense earthquakes until the moment the first seismic action happens, same as the extremely well tuned and highly sensitive equipment that watches for and detects these sorts of things.
It’s really not a case of hyper-sensitivity. As far as we can tell, there are just simply no early warning signs of earthquakes in terms of days or weeks.
For those of you so certain that this has been “documented”, please reference this kind of documentation.
Also, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the migration was part of a multi-year cycle.
Comment by Blame
May 19th, 2008 at 1:27 am
Let’s put all blames aside right of who’s right and wrong and focus on how we should deal with the people at state. There are too many orphans, single parents, people who lost everything and etc… The list goes on and on. We need to rebuild their homes, settle them and give them psychological counseling. These people have been through the worse of the worse, so lets donate your some money and help them. Whether animals could be a predictor of natural disaster at this point is of no importance.
Comment by sam
May 19th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
animal predicting events = confirmation bias.
Comment by Terance
May 20th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Any one that says earthquakes can be predicted is a moron.
If they could, why the hell would they let it happen without warning?
It’s always an earthquake without warning.
Thus gives me the reason to believe they can’t be predicted, whether it be last minute or weeks before hand.
Think about it that way??
Comment by Long Lived China
May 20th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Its very difficult to predict an earthquake coming as they happen so deep below the grond, eg.10kms or more.
Unlike Tsunami, typhoon, etc which is visible. Even visible, they are destructive.
To date there is no technology that can forcast an earthquake is coming and provide sufficient time to evacuatuion to an accuracy of 60% and above.
Let not blame the chinese govt. The chinese govt has been very effective in carrying out relief effort and rescue work, which should be the first thing to be done in any disaster. Any land on mother earth will fall victim to an earthquake when it comes.
Comment by Sköt
May 22nd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Actually, the tale of the apple hitting Newtons head is apocryphal.
Comment by cali girl
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:07 am
I grew up in the california earthquake zone. our animals , especially our cats knew in advance, they changed their behavior and moaned in a low tone, every time before an earthquake. Different pets, different houses, different cities, same reaction. fast forward to recent events, the mid west had an earthquake, very minor, though felt for several states because it was fairly shallow. our cat howled and cried just before it was happening, dd thought she was just making noise to get out, but cat wouldn’t leave dd.
animals do know and if we were smart, we would pay better attention to them.
I’ve followed earthquake patterns for years, the usgs website is a treasure trove. I’ve been in quakes and felt them and seen the damage first hand, big destructive ones and in every instance the animals in the area knew something was happening.
Comment by fearthefrog
May 25th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Clearly, if enough frogs jump at the same time, an earthquake will occur. Perhaps it was the migration of the frogs which was the cause, not the predictor of the quake…
Comment by this sucks
May 26th, 2008 at 12:13 am
This article is bullshit. there’s no way any earthquake system can detect an article before it happens.
Comment by knuckles
May 26th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Wow you all miss the whole point of the intellectual exercise. Some people might not believe that the Frogs will run from earthquakes, but the little surrender monkeys have always run from the Germans, with their little webbed feet in the air, no less. As for San Francisco, its been proven that a plague of locusts has already befallen the city and that it will be dessimated during the next big one that the USGS has now stated with 100% certainty is 99% probable within the next half-century or so, or longer. Like they say; “The Frogs are always there when they need us.”
Comment by jake
May 28th, 2008 at 2:34 am
im a student studieng disasters and this is bad !!!!!!!
im a year 6 student
Comment by Gianni Widejock
May 29th, 2008 at 10:49 am
next time i see a frog im running
Comment by lol
May 30th, 2008 at 5:58 am
why had the earth quake happened????
Comment by robert garvie
May 30th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
What moron took the photo of that kid trapped in the rubble?In France he would be in jail. Still it looks as if he might have put a pillow under her head, meaning he must have gone looking for one. As for the mating habits of frogs in an earthquake; who cares ?
Comment by Mike Toler
May 31st, 2008 at 10:29 am
This picture was taken YEARS ago. Only superstitious twits believe frogs have magic earthquake predicting ability. If there was any truth to it, geological researchers would keep a jar of frogs handy.
Comment by jose
May 31st, 2008 at 12:06 pm
animals can sense coming disasters. how do u explain the elephants moving inland in groups right before that major tsunami in asia. that tsunami was preceded by an underwater earthquake. next time we see animals in weird migrations or more animated than usual….then u should be worried
Comment by knuckles
June 1st, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Like, I live in a Californiea eartquake zoned and seen the French always run away from whatever earthquakes when it happens. 100% of the time. Even when it’s invisible, which is the most dangerous kind because then you can’t see it. And that one frog with Keith Richard’s face had to be photoshopped because he was having brain surgery in New Zealand after he fell on his head out of the coconut tree in Fiji so he couldn’t of been there when the picture was taken. Plus, he doesn’t like the French either. He once relieved himself in the lobby of the French Embassy in London, right after he snorted his dad’s ashes when he thought he was seeing humongous green frogs. Keith Richards could sleep thru an earthquake, so he probably wouldn’t be as good a natural disaster forecaster as the French.
Comment by TJ
June 4th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Animals have a substance called Magnetite and this has many different implications and effects not all of which do we understand, but it is believed to be involved in their homing ability for migration and such but also since earthquakes give off magnetic fields it is possible and for an animal with skin that is known as also the most sensitive such as frogs may easily have alerted them or irritated them to a degree that they sought to leave that zone in which the magnetic field was developing or the field was altered from that which they are accustomed..
This could be used as a predictor of earthquakes in the future..
Comment by beijingbetty
June 8th, 2008 at 2:21 am
thank you wikipedia.
Comment by Timothy Ritchie
June 25th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Frogs can feel when earthquakes are about to happen because thier @ss is so close to the ground.If you want to know when an earthquake is about to happen,sit your @ss down on the ground.
Comment by Blossom7007
June 27th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Yeah right and I can travel to the moon with Hedwig dragging me there. Who are you anyway?!
Comment by Reignonyourparade
June 28th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
that.
Would.
be.
AWESOME.
Comment by Sue
July 6th, 2008 at 1:21 am
I live in California. You better believe animals know what’s up.
Cats and dogs run away. Koi fish jump out of the water. Snakes come up out of the ground.
The night before Northridge I had roaches running in circles all over my kitchen floor, and I’m on the third floor! Circles.
The lost and found pet ads skyrocket. If they pets don’t run away they start clawing at closet doors, howling, crying to go outside or hiding under beds.
Once I took a bus up route 5 and noticed that all the cows were LYING DOWN. Guess what. There was a quake that day. That area. The cows new not to stand.
Earthquakes don’t just happen. Stress builds to a breaking point. There are foreshocks.
They also can be triggered by a syzygy, combinations of events such as a full moon, with a high tide, an eclipse, a solstice, or the time of year when the moon is closest to the earth. Google syzygyjob and have fun.
My heart goes out to you all my brothers and sisters in China, Japan, Russian, Turkey, Pakistan and everywhere else there are earthquakes. Take care everybody.
Sue in Hollywood
Comment by joel
August 26th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
this was no help to my project
Comment by @Alec
September 4th, 2008 at 6:55 am
The frogs were (presumably, due to lack of detail in the story) located much closer to the earthquake event than the detection stations trying to do the prediction.
Besides vibration, there could also be chemical (gas) venting and other signals that they are sensitive to.
A population of animals in an earthquake prone area would have a survival advantage if they developed this “disaster sense” and it triggered a mass migration response that migrated them far enough away from the disaster.
Or, as you say, it could be part of a multi-year cycle that just coincidentally came before the big event.
If civilization survives a couple of thousand more years at a level where we can electronically search historical records, we may be able to answer the frog-migration / earthquake connection question, just by examining the record.
There were certainly some animals with smarter responses to the Tsunami than some humans, only a small percentage of humans recognized the receding water a sign of imenient disaster.
Comment by Melie
October 9th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
That was absolutely hilarious.
Anyway. Thanks for helping me write a “recent historical event” ballad. sorta. It turned out well though.
Comment by Mantis Hunter
October 13th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Wow, I never knew that China was scared of a frog.
Comment by ellen-jade
January 27th, 2009 at 3:14 am
so i thought it was a very bad disaster tht happened
so hahaha
by ellen jade
i am a yr 9 studant!?!?!?!?
Comment by kelsey devereux
January 27th, 2009 at 3:16 am
oh my god tht is a bad 1 tht is horrible
by kelsey devereux
i am a yr 7 studant!????!!!?!?!!?!?!?!?!
Comment by chelci-paige cashman
January 27th, 2009 at 3:19 am
keeley is soooooo rubish at actin tht is soooooo fake u can seeeeeeeee it
by chelci-paige cashman
i am a yr 10 studant
by for now
seeeee u latar
Comment by Orc
April 20th, 2009 at 11:33 am
wow, they really ignored all the frogs but shouldove investigated it and monitor that… animals can predict a lot of things from rain, wind, earthquakes, etc… =\
Comment by alivizs
May 1st, 2009 at 5:27 pm
jons a retard
Comment by go China
June 18th, 2009 at 4:24 am
ohh..yes there is. if u look in other websites
Comment by go china
June 18th, 2009 at 4:27 am
no its not..it was taken days bofore the earthquake..also, the frogs does have the ability of sensing earthquakes…
Comment by Luke Alexander
September 9th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
I think animal behaviors could provide basis for events that might occur. Some animals are sensitive. that's why they can tell.
Comment by James
November 13th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Wow, millions of frogs on the streets! Its amazing how animals are better at detecting natural disasters such as earthquakes than humans!
http://ocgames.com
Comment by Padron
December 12th, 2009 at 3:10 am
How scary! I would definitely think something bad was happening if all the frogs were migrating! They definitely know what's up!
Cheap Cigars
Comment by julia
March 2nd, 2010 at 5:01 pm
well…….!!!!!!headache!!!!!!!
Comment by Mstardom
May 6th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
So what does Haiti and China have in common? We all know the answer to this one. I was reading a science article about the migration of frogs before massive earthquakes and the article stated that frogs and other animals can detect when a big earthquake is going to hit. Therefore, frogs are much better than we human beings when it comes to detecting earthquakes. In the images above, it is obvious that the frogs new something bad was going to happened, and this is the reason why they were getting out of town. We should study frogs to find out how they are able to detect when an earthquake is getting ready to hit. It is definitely changes in the environment that trigger the frogs earthquake detector senses. Usually before the onset of a large earthquake, radon is released into the environment. Could it be this radon that is detected by frogs? This is very likely! But how can we test such an hypothesis? Get some frogs and expose them to a radon in there environment and see how they react to it. Here is an article that could shed some light on the devastating effects of earthquakes on earth: http://myspacestardom.com/article/article_107/
Comment by Mstardom
May 6th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
So what does Haiti and China have in common? We all know the answer to this one. I was reading a science article about the migration of frogs before massive earthquakes and the article stated that frogs and other animals can detect when a big earthquake is going to hit. Therefore, frogs are much better than we human beings when it comes to detecting earthquakes. In the images above, it is obvious that the frogs new something bad was going to happened, and this is the reason why they were getting out of town. We should study frogs to find out how they are able to detect when an earthquake is getting ready to hit. It is definitely changes in the environment that trigger the frogs earthquake detector senses. Usually before the onset of a large earthquake, radon is released into the environment. Could it be this radon that is detected by frogs? This is very likely! But how can we test such an hypothesis? Get some frogs and expose them to a radon in there environment and see how they react to it. Here is an article that could shed some light on the devastating effects of earthquakes on earth: http://myspacestardom.com/article/article_107/
Comment by Amphibius
May 27th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Not only the frogs were an indication. Someone from Japan uploaded a Utube video of a strange L-shaped cloud with a dash of pinkish/purple color recorded just prior (minutes) before the quake, as if a toxic gas emitted from the earth (as a result of the pressure?), which in turn caused snakes and frogs to evacuate on a massive scale. So maybe its not a physical seismic movement that is detected by these critters, but a change in the "air quality" of the ground (sulfuric?). The sesmic stations are good at measuring movements during the fact, but its tragic that it doesn't carry hardly any predictive power to save lives.