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)
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grace
what do you expect with a stupid government?
Elliott
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.
omozali
There are usually subtle signs of a coming earth quake that only animals can sense, probably very fine vibrations that precede the big event.
Alec
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.
@Alec
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.
Aleks
you are a moron, they can detect earthquakes using a sismograph which detects vibrations in the earth to predict earthquakes
Anonymous Coward
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.
darkwing duck
!!!!!
___
{ }
So the Earthquake Test Centers are useless
Aikyrie
A little superstitious
jack
Well,please tell us what you would like to have happened? The gov should have prepared for a disaster based on some frogs?
Sun Tzu
Exactly.. Why did they not properly observe the frogs.
Gianni Widejock
next time i see a frog im running
SuperSparky
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.
DARKWING DUCK
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.
beijingbetty
thank you wikipedia.
Charlie
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
Ummm
It was definitely a 7.9 on the richter scale.
sir jorge
it’s just the beginning! This has the makings for a horror movie of sorts.
hopeless
they must observe the frog movement. they are inteligent than human.
sampine
your comment proves what you are trying to say
Jack
Ad hominem, your comment attacks the claimer rather than the claim; your comment is logically fallacious.
Me
Shopped.
mme defarge
some folks must have had a feast anyway.
n
“your comment proves what you are trying to say”
oh shi-
kim
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.
Oly
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.
sultan_azteca
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…
Jack
They’re frogs … what did you expect? Them suddenly developing higher brain functions and making little frog rockets to fly them to safety?
Reignonyourparade
that.
Would.
be.
AWESOME.
passbyer
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
Gursharan
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.
Sköt
Actually, the tale of the apple hitting Newtons head is apocryphal.
frank
wonder how much frog soup was made?
Blame
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.
sam
animal predicting events = confirmation bias.
Terance
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??
Long Lived China
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.
cali girl
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.
fearthefrog
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…
this sucks
This article is bullshit. there’s no way any earthquake system can detect an article before it happens.
go China
ohh..yes there is. if u look in other websites
knuckles
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.”
jake
im a student studieng disasters and this is bad !!!!!!!
im a year 6 student 🙂
lol
why had the earth quake happened????
robert garvie
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 ?
Mike Toler
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.
go china
no its not..it was taken days bofore the earthquake..also, the frogs does have the ability of sensing earthquakes…
jose
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
knuckles
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.
TJ
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..
Timothy Ritchie
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.
Blossom7007
Yeah right and I can travel to the moon with Hedwig dragging me there. Who are you anyway?!
Melie
That was absolutely hilarious.
Anyway. Thanks for helping me write a “recent historical event” ballad. sorta. It turned out well though.
Sue
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
joel
this was no help to my project
Mantis Hunter
Wow, I never knew that China was scared of a frog.
ellen-jade
so i thought it was a very bad disaster tht happened
so hahaha
by ellen jade
i am a yr 9 studant!?!?!?!?
kelsey devereux
oh my god tht is a bad 1 tht is horrible
by kelsey devereux
i am a yr 7 studant!????!!!?!?!!?!?!?!?!
chelci-paige cashman
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
Orc
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… =\
alivizs
jons a retard
Luke Alexander
I think animal behaviors could provide basis for events that might occur. Some animals are sensitive. that's why they can tell.
James
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
Padron
How scary! I would definitely think something bad was happening if all the frogs were migrating! They definitely know what's up!
Cheap Cigars
LISA J SIMPSON
well it's not like the frogs were going to eat them… but it's SCARY though to see thousands of frogs… YEP!
julia
well…….!!!!!!headache!!!!!!!
Mstardom
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/
Mstardom
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/
Amphibius
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.
nike air max 90 sale
t them and seen the damage first hand, big destructive ones and in every instance the animals in the area knew something was happening.
aki
earthquakes sucks but when frogs like the china ones it sounds kind of funny….hahahahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
alex
If China Government sense tis migration than disasters losses may be reduce.
Thanks,
Alex http://paraorkut9.org/
perra-st
Thanx for this useful information.
John
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.
Orkut Scraps
joshuaeai
SuperSparky's right on. Another predictor of earthquakes I've seen Tech Articls
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.
actonies
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, NewsMoments
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.
barbaraioa
Any one that says earthquakes can be predicted is a moron.
If they could, why the hell News360
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.
abigailaio
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 Depoimentos Prontos para amigos Orkut
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.
Rizxi
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. gadgets
Carol Brown
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.
World News
Sammie Baynham
Good job once again. Thumbs up.
fag cartman
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Freakish
anyone else realize that hong-kong was listed as a country, very wierd………………….
Richard Thomas Lyonhart
water to red, and a lot of frogs mmm what next? lice?
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