LONDON: For the first time scientists have been able to capture and document how the behaviour of wild animals changes prior to an earthquake – a development which may help with short-term seismic forecasting.
The study, led by Dr Rachel Grant of Anglia Ruskin University, used data gathered from a series of motion-triggered cameras located in the Yanachaga National Park in Peru.
The research found that significant changes in animal behaviour began 23 days before the magnitude 7.0 Contamana earthquake struck the region in 2011.
On a typical day the cameras would record between 5-15 animal sightings. However, within the 23-day period in the run-up to the earthquake, they recorded five or fewer sightings.
For five of the seven days immediately before the earthquake, no animal movements were recorded at all, which was incredibly unusual for this mountainous rainforest region.
At the same time, by recording the reflection of very low frequency (VLF) radio waves above the area surrounding the epicentre, the scientists detected disturbances in the ionosphere, which started two weeks before the earthquake.
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