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How do animals sense earthquakes before they happen? | Mind-blowing adventures for kids · The Curious Kidcast | Fun Facts and Curious Questions

• 0:00
  Imagine this. It's a normal morning and you're
• 0:02
  eating your cereal. Suddenly your dog starts barking
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  like crazy. Your cat hides under the bed,
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  Birds are flying in loops around the yard.
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  Even the fish in the tank are swimming like mad.
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  No one else seems to notice anything yet.
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  But just a few hours later, the ground shakes.
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  Did the animals know something you didn't?
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  Could they feel the earthquake before it even happened?
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  Today, we're going to find out. Curious kid cast?
• 0:29
  Here we go. Questions poppin.
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  Minds will blow Big ideas. They're taking flight.
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  Let's explore. Feel the light.
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  Hey there, Curious kids. It's Charlie here.
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  And welcome back to the Curious Kid cast, where we answer the
• 0:57
  questions that make your brain do backflips.
• 1:00
  Today's question comes from Oliver in San Pablo, CA Oliver
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  wrote to us because his Guinea pig, Herbie, started doing laps
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  around his cage right before a small earthquake hit their
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  neighborhood. Oliver wants to know, can
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  animals really sense earthquakes before they happen?
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  And if so, how do they do it when we humans are just standing
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  there like confused statues? Great question, Oliver, and
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  honestly, Herbie sounds like he might be part superhero.
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  Let's find out what's going on. All right, so here's the thing.
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  Throughout history, people have noticed animals acting
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  absolutely bonkers right before earthquakes hit.
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  And I'm not talking about your typical dog chasing its tail
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  bonkers. I'm talking about serious weird
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  stuff. Back in 1975 in China, snakes
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  crawled out of their cosy hibernation spots in the middle
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  of winter. Now if you know anything about
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  snakes, they hate being cold. They're basically living heating
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  pads that prefer staying warm and sleepy.
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  But these snakes were like, Nope, we're out of here.
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  Even though it was freezing outside, dogs bark non-stop,
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  cats disappeared. And because people noticed all
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  this strange behaviour, they evacuated the city of Hi Cheng.
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  Guess what happened next? A massive earthquake hit.
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  Thousands of lives were saved because people paid attention to
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  the animals. Then in 2004, before that huge
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  earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, elephants started
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  moving to higher ground. Dogs ran inland.
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  Even chickens, Chickens. You guys were acting nervous.
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  Chickens are not known for their intelligence.
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  So when even they're freaking out, something big is definitely
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  going on. And it's not just wild animals
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  or farm animals. Regular pets do this too.
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  Dogs pace around the house like they're training for a marathon.
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  Cats hide under beds and refuse to come out even for tuna fish
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  swim in crazy patterns. It's like they all got the same
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  secret memo that says danger incoming, act weird immediately.
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  So the big question is how? How do animals know something's
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  coming when we humans are completely clueless?
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  Well, scientists have a few theories, and they're all pretty
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  cool. Before a big earthquake hits,
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  the earth sometimes gives off tiny little shakes called 4
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  shocks. They're so small that humans
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  usually can't feel them. But animals?
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  Oh, they can feel them all right.
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  Dogs and cats have super sensitive ears and paws.
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  Elephants feel vibrations through their massive feet.
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  It's kind of like how you can feel someone stomping on the
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  floor from far away. Except animals are feeling the
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  earth doing tiny stomps that we completely miss.
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  Imagine if you had elephant feet.
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  Actually don't imagine that too hard because that would be
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  really weird at school, but you get the idea.
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  Animals are basically walking around with built in earthquake
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  detectors in their paws. OK, this one sounds like science
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  fiction, but it's real. The Earth has a natural magnetic
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  field, kind of like a giant invisible force field around the
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  planet. Birds and fish use this magnetic
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  field to navigate, which is already pretty amazing if you
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  think about it. Now, when rocks deep underground
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  start pressing against each other before an earthquake, they
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  can change this magnetic field slightly.
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  And some scientists think birds and fish might notice these
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  changes. It's like the Earth is sending
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  out a secret warning signal and animals are the only ones with
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  the special decoder glasses to read it.
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  Meanwhile, we humans are just walking around going what a nice
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  day while the Earth is basically screaming something's about to
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  go down. Here's a gross but fascinating
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  fact. When rocks shift underground,
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  they can release gases like radon.
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  Humans can't smell these gases at all.
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  But dogs? Dogs can smell everything.
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  Seriously, have you seen a dog's nose?
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  It's like a super powered smell machine.
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  Some insects and reptiles can detect these chemicals too.
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  So if the air or soil starts smelling weird, animals might
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  get nervous and decide to leave the area.
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  They don't know why they're nervous, they just know
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  something feels wrong. It's like when you walk into a
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  room and it just feels creepy. Except for animals, it's their
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  nose telling them to get out of there.
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  Scientists have tried testing all this stuff in labs and let
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  me tell you, trying to recreate an earthquake in a laboratory is
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  not easy. You can't just start shaking
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  everything and yelling earthquake.
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  Well, you could, but that wouldn't be very scientific.
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  They've tested rats and mice by creating tiny vibrations.
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  The little guys freeze or run when they feel them, which shows
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  they're super sensitive to ground movement.
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  Lizards and frogs react to changes in humidity and
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  vibrations too. Birds can detect low frequency
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  vibrations in infrasound, which is basically sounds so low that
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  humans can't hear it. But here's the tricky part.
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  Real earthquakes are messy. They involve vibrations,
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  chemical changes, magnetic field shifts, and probably a bunch of
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  other stuff all happening at once.
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  So it's really hard to test just one thing at a time.
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  Scientists are basically trying to solve a puzzle where all the
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  pieces keep moving around. Let me share some of my favorite
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  animal earthquake stories with you because honestly, these are
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  pretty mind blowing. Remember snakes in China?
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  I mentioned they left their Burrows days before the
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  earthquake days. That's not just coincidence.
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  They probably felt tiny vibrations underground or
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  smelled gases escaping from the soil.
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  Either way, those snakes were like peace out earth.
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  We'll come back when you calm down.
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  Elephants in Thailand have been known to move to higher ground
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  before earthquakes. These giant animals weighing
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  thousands of pounds just suddenly decide to go for a hike
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  to higher elevation. Maybe they sense vibrations
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  through their feet or detect changes in air pressure.
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  Whatever it is, elephants clearly know something we don't.
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  And then there are regular house pets.
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  So many people report their dogs barking or pacing for hours
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  before even a small tremor. Cats leave their favorite
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  sleeping spots and hide in weird places, like inside washing
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  machines or behind toilets, because apparently, when
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  danger's coming, the bathroom seems like the safest place to a
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  cat. You might be wondering, why are
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  humans so bad at this? We're supposed to be the smart
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  ones, right? Well, here's the thing.
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  Humans can definitely feel earthquakes once they happen,
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  but before they happen, the signs are just too subtle for
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  us. Those tiny vibrations, too small
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  for our feet to feel, especially when we're wearing shoes.
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  Changes in magnetic fields invisible to us.
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  We don't have magnetic sensors in our heads.
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  And those underground gases? We can't smell them.
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  Animals are just built differently.
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  Their senses are sharper, their instincts are quicker, and their
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  brains are tuned to notice even the smallest signs of danger.
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  Meanwhile, human brains are busy thinking about what's for lunch
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  or why our shoelaces keep coming united.
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  It's like animals are walking around with superpower danger
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  detectors and humans are walking around with regular old human
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  bodies that are pretty good at thinking and talking, but not so
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  great at sensing tiny earth vibrations.
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  So here's where it gets really interesting.
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  Some scientists are wondering if we could use animals as
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  earthquake early warning systems.
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  Researchers are actually tracking cows and dogs with GPS
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  collars and accelerometers. That's right, farm animals
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  wearing high tech tracking devices.
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  If the animals start moving unusually, it might signal that
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  seismic activity is coming. Imagine getting an alert on your
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  phone that says warning. 17 cows just ran to the other side of
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  the field. Also, 12 dogs are barking in
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  unison. Possible earthquake incoming.
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  That would be pretty useful, right?
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  Scientists could combine animal behaviour with their regular
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  sensors like seismographs, radon detectors and satellite data.
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  It's like creating a super team of earthquake prediction where
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  animals and technology work together.
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  Now, it's not perfect, yet animals sometimes act weird for
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  totally normal reasons. Maybe there's a storm coming,
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  maybe they heard a loud noise, maybe they're just bored and
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  want attention. But combined with technology,
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  their behaviour could give humans a helpful head start.
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  Even if animals can't perfectly predict every earthquake, we can
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  still learn some pretty important lessons from them.
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  1st, pay attention to the world around you.
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  Animals notice tiny changes that we completely miss.
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  Maybe we should slow down and observe things more carefully
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  too. Like maybe your dog isn't just
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  being annoying when he keeps staring at the wall.
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  Maybe he hears something you don't.
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  Second instincts are powerful. Animals survive by trusting
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  their gut feelings. Sometimes we humans should
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  listen to our instincts too, instead of overthinking
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  everything. And third, nature is connected
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  in ways we're still figuring out.
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  Earthquakes show us how animals, humans, and the planet are all
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  linked together in this big, complicated web.
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  We're all part of the same system, even if we don't always
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  realize it. OK, close your eyes for a
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  second. Actually, maybe don't close them
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  if you're walking or riding a bike while listening to this.
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  But imagine you're a dog or a cat.
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  You feel a tiny rumble under your paws.
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  It's so small that the humans around you don't notice
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  anything, but to you it feels like something big is coming.
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  The air smells different, kind of chemically and weird.
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  Your senses are screaming something is wrong, danger is
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  coming. So you run.
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  You hide, you bark to warn others.
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  The humans think you're just being weird, but your instincts
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  just gave you a head start on survival.
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  That's how animals might experience the world differently
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  than we do, and maybe that's why they can sense earthquakes
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  before we can. All right, curious kids, it's
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  time to test what you've learned with a quick quiz.
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  I'll give you 3 questions with multiple choice answers.
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  Think about your answer, and then I'll tell you if you got it
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  right ready. In 1975, what unusual thing did
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  snakes do before the earthquake in Haicheng, China?
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  A. They started juggling rocks.
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  B They crawled out of hibernation in the middle of
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  winter. C they formed a snake pyramid.
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  D they learned to play the piano.
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  The answer is B they crawled out of hibernation in the middle of
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  winter, which is pretty wild considering snakes hate being
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  cold. No juggling or piano playing
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  involved, unfortunately. Question 2.
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  What's one way scientists think animals might sense earthquakes?
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  A. They check the weather forecast
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  B. They read earthquake prediction
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  books C They detect changes in the Earth's electromagnetic
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  field D They subscribe to earthquake newsletters.
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  The answer is C They detect changes in the Earth's
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  electromagnetic field. Birds and fish especially are
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  sensitive to these magnetic changes.
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  And no, animals don't read newsletters, though that would
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  be pretty adorable. Last question, what gas can be
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  released from underground when rocks shift before an
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  earthquake? A laughing gas, B Radon, C
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  Helium or D birthday cake scented air?
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  The answer is B radon. It's a gas that humans can't
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  smell, but some animals can detect it.
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  Definitely not birthday cake scented, and not the kind of gas
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  that makes you laugh. Though imagining animals
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  detecting birthday cake gas is pretty funny.
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  So there you have it, Oliver and everyone listening.
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  Animals may not be perfect earthquake predictors, but
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  they're pretty amazing. They notice vibrations, smell
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  gases, sense electromagnetic changes, and react with their
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  instincts. All things humans usually miss
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  because we're too busy being humans.
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  Next time your dog barks at seemingly nothing or your cat
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  hides in a weird spot, maybe, just maybe, the earth is trying
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  to tell you something. Or maybe your cat is just being
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  a cat. It's honestly hard to tell
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  sometimes. Thanks for listening to the
• 14:10
  Curious Kid cast. If you enjoyed today's episode,
• 14:12
  make sure to share it with your friends and subscribe so you
• 14:15
  never miss an episode. And if you have a question you'd
• 14:18
  like answered, visit ourwebsite@curiouskidcast.com.
• 14:22
  Who knows, maybe your question will be featured next time.
• 14:25
  Remember, curiosity is like having your own earthquake
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  sensor for knowledge. Pay attention, explore, and
• 14:32
  always ask questions. You never know what amazing
• 14:35
  things you might discover that others miss.
• 14:37
  I'm Charlie and I'll catch you on the next episode of the
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  Curious Kid cast. Stay curious, friends.