Chinese wonder if animals can predict earthquakes

by Sanjay Jha | May 15, 2008 at 01:56 am | 638 views | 6 comments

It is widely believed that Animals have strong senses and they get advance feeling before any disasters. Now many countries have sought to use animal behavior as an early warning sign. Now after earthquake China is seriously considering of using animal behaviour in future.

First, the water level in a pond inexplicably plunged. Then, thousands of toads appeared on streets in a nearby province. Finally, just hours before China's worst earthquake in three decades, animals at a local zoo began acting strangely.
As bodies are pulled from the wreckage of Monday's quake, Chinese online chat rooms and blogs are buzzing with a question: Why didn't these natural signs alert the government that a disaster was coming?
"If the seismological bureau were professional enough they could have predicted the earthquake ten days earlier, when several thousand cubic meters of water disappeared within an hour in Hubei, but the bureau there dismissed it," one commentator wrote.
In fact, seismologists say, it is nearly impossible to predict when and where an earthquake will strike.
Several countries, including China, have sought to use changes in nature — mostly animal behavior — as an early warning sign. But so far, no reliable way has been found to use animals to predict earthquakes, said Roger Musson, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey.

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白色焗烤心情

at 05:31 on May 15th, 2008

from TAIWAN APPLE NEWS PAPER

白色焗烤心情 has contributed a photo to this story.

wilfacts

at 05:33 on May 15th, 2008

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人民幣開戶行：中國工商銀行北京分行東四南支行
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Mercy Corps - China Earthquake Relief
www.mercycorps.org/chinaearthquake/?source=1062

1. You can make earthquake donations through Chinese Consulate General in New York in the form of checks. Checks should be written as follows:

Pay to the order of "Chinese Consulate General in New York", For "Earthquake Relief Donation".

Checks can be sent to the Chinese Consulate General in New York either in person or by mail. Our mailing address is: Liu Lei, 520 12th Ave, New York, NY 10036. Please leave us your name, mailing address and contact phone number so that we can send you a formal receipt in the future.

2. You can also make earthquake donations through Red Cross Society of China, Chinese Red Cross Foundation and China Charity Federation. The banking details of the above organizations are as follows:

1) Red Cross Society of China, Banking Account No.: 7112-1114-8260-0000-209(CHINA CITI BANK H.O.IN BEIJING, SWIFT: CIBKCNBJ).

2) Chinese Red Cross Foundation, Banking Account No.: 8001-0008-6608-0910-14(BANK OF CHINA, BEIJING BR., SWIFT: BKCHCNBJ110).

3) China Charity Federation, Banking Account No.: 0010-0914-9080-9101-4(BANK OF CHINA, H.O. IN BEIJING, SWIFT: BKCHCNBJ).

The Chinese Consulate General in New York highly appreciates your help and kindness. If you have other questions, please call 212-244-9392 ext. 1000.

wilfacts has contributed a photo to this story.

pky

at 19:22 on May 15th, 2008

A THREE-year-old girl was rescued today after spending more than 40 hours under the rubble of a collapsed building in what China's state media hailed as a "magical" earthquake survival tale.

However, she apparently survived because she had been protected by the bodies of her parents who died in Monday's disaster, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The girl, Song Xinyi, suffered serious leg injuries but was able to talk when she was hauled out of the many layers of rubble this morning, 43 hours after the 7.9-magnitude quake struck south-west China's Sichuan province.

"She explained the three Chinese characters that made up her name, and told everybody she loved painting and watching TV. Despite a coin-sized wound on her forehead, she still looked pretty," Xinhua reported.

Rescuers found her yesterday morning, but were unable to get her out of the rubble immediately.

So they gave her food and milk and sheltered her from heavy rain as they cleared the rubble, according to Xinhua.

Song was in one of the collapsed buildings in Beichuan county, where up to 5,000 people are believed to have died in the quake.

Across Sichuan and neighbouring regions, the death toll has soared above 20,000.

Amid such misery, Chinese media have been desperate for some good stories and Xinhua said Song had "magically survived under the dead bodies of her parents''.

Premier Wen Jiabao, who was in Beichuan today as part of his efforts to oversee rescue work, met Song before she was sent to hospital, Xinhua said.

pky has contributed a photo to this story.

alexpenev

at 22:59 on May 15th, 2008

Famous for idling and doing "nothing particularly interesting for the camera", this panda had a sudden burst of action, precariously climbing trees, chewing on random things and running around the enclosure... before settling down again and doing "nothing particularly interesting" once again.

alexpenev has contributed a photo to this story.