Detector Dogs: Are Dogs Reliable Predictors of Earthquakes?

It is early in the afternoon. All of a sudden, seemingly without reason, your normally well-behaved dog begins barking and becomes agitated and frantic. None of your attempts at soothing help and he actually becomes worse.

Then your normal, peaceful, quite afternoon becomes fraught with terror as an earthquake strikes.

Was your beloved companion trying to warn you?

The Alaska Earthquake Information Center would answer a resounding “Yes”! In the summer of 2002 their newest employee Josh Stachnik proved to be a valuable team member...because of his dog Fats. Within 2 weeks Fats reliably sensed the coming of 2 earthquakes. One was the Denali Earthquake which was the most violent quake in the world in 2002.

Fat’s predictive abilities allowed many people to adequately prepare for the upcoming quake thus saving many lives.

In Japan seismologists are actively studying how to use animals, especially dogs, to predict and prepare for earthquakes.

Masayoshi Gondo, the former head of the Kobe Muicipal Zoo believes that such research could save many lives if/when a huge earthquake strikes Japan.

Mitauki Ota, a professor of veterinary science at Azabu University told researchers “Dogs and cats tell you a quake is going to happen with just enough time left over to make your escape.”

Ota recalls that during the Great Hanshin Earthquake that killed over 6,000 people in 1995 many pets in the area created so much havoc that their owners had to take them outside, thus saving them from being caught indoors when the earthquake struck.

Many people have long claimed that animals have a special sixth sense that allow them to predict natural disasters.

Scientists have many theories, none completely conclusive, that explain how animals perform such feats.

One theory is that the dogs can feel the ground’s subtle vibrations before the full-fledged earthquakes. All mammals, including people have highly sensitive sensors called Pacinian corpuscles in their feet and joints. These corpuscles could be the registers that allow dogs to detect upcoming earthquakes.

Other researchers believe that animals, dogs, detect electrical changes in the air and detect the gas released from the earth.

And still other researchers postulate that dogs detect the changes that occur in the Earth’s electromagnetic field prior to an earthquake.

Perhaps it’s time to stop searching for the whys and looking for proof and simply accept that animals have much to offer us if we are only willing to listen and take appropriate action.