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New Concepts in Global Tectonics Journal, v. 1, no. 4, www.ncgt.org 11
A POTENTIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR AND
PRE-SEISMIC SIGNALS IN THE NORTH WESTERN APENNINES
(ITALY)
Valentino STRASER
International Earthquake and Volcano Prediction Center
vstraser@ievpc.org
Abstract: In numerous cultures, emissions of gas, electrostatic charges, plasma and magnetic fields are often
associated with anomalous behaviour among animals and disturbances in human health before strong earthquakes.
Italy is no exception. The sporadic earthquakes with magnitude of M4.5+ that have occurred over the last five years in
the North Western Apennines (Italy) have afforded an opportunity to verify any coincidences between the two
phenomena. The three seisms of magnitude M4.5+ that occurred from 2008 to 2013, all in the winter, coincided with
the premature awakening from hibernation of reptiles, which in two cases were photographed in the snow. In the
second half of 2009, a further investigation was carried out into the number of daily emergencies in a hospital situated
in the zone under investigation to verify any possible link to the occurrence of seisms with a magnitude greater than
M2+. In 8 cases out of 10, in the 48 hours preceding the occurrence of a seism, there was a greater number of hospital
emergencies.
Keywords: seismic precursors, animals and earthquake prediction, oscillatory resonance, radio anomalies, solitonic
waves
Introduction
he aim of this study was to check on possible relationships between the behaviour of animals
(vertebrates and insects) and pre-seismic signals.
In the lack of dependable forecasts of earthquakes, due to technological limitations, man has often relied on
the sensitivity of animals: “The prophets of the earthquake,” Helmut Tributsch defined them (1979), with
their capacity to gather anticipatory indications and signals of a seism. Signals identified by unusual
behaviour, often repetitive, have been observed in various parts of the world in the days or hours preceding
a potentially destructive seism (Deng et al., 1981; Wang et al., 2006; Bhargava et al., 2009; Buskirk et al.,
1981; Logan, 1977; Serpieri, 1873; Grant et al., 2011; Gans, 1976). Some examples are the scientific
studies and reports that followed the earthquakes in Heicheng (1975) and Friuli (1976). A sensitivity to
anticipate a seismic event that not only belongs to animals, but also to man, as testified by miners who,
bare-footed, were able to perceive vibrations in the ground shortly before a seismic event occurred.
Investigations into the influence of seisms on the health of human adults and children have instead been
hypothesized, due to the presence of electrical charges or gas present in the atmosphere that can interact
with serotonin levels. Recent studies conducted by Anagnostopoulos (2013) have shown that there is a high
correlationship between the run-up to an earthquake and the mental health of particularly sensitive
individuals (Anagnostopoulos et al., 2013; Xueyi et al., 2012).
Area investigated
This ongoing study, which began in 2008, and has been examining a seismic area of the province of Parma
in the North Western Apennines in Italy (Fig. 1).
T
12 NCGT Journal, v. 1, no. 4, December 2013. www.ncgt.org
Fig. 1. Index map. The letter “H” indicates the position of the hospital, the coloured concentric circles the epicentre
areas and the areas where the reptiles were found in the snow after waking from hibernation.
Temporal scansion
The investigation, with temporal scansion, has been split into two phases. The first phase sought to identify
abnormal behaviour among animals coinciding with earthquakes of a magnitude greater than M5+ (only
three in the last 5 years). Earthquakes with a magnitude greater than M5+ are an unusual event in the
seismic area of the Frignano District and the areas surrounding Parma in Italy’s North Western Apennines.
The second phase took place from June to December 2009; there the number of daily emergencies in a
hospital in the area under investigation were checked, and matched to earthquakes that had occurred in the
same period (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2. List of the earthquakes that have occurred in the area under investigation (Parma Apennines and the Frignano
seismic district) from June to December 2009.
New Concepts in Global Tectonics Journal, v. 1, no. 4, www.ncgt.org 13
Method
The method of the investigation included daily contact with a dense network of newspaper correspondents
(around 50 journalists) as well as Civil Defence volunteers in order to stay informed of any anomalies
notified locally in real time in the villages and countryside near the earthquakes; in addition, seisms in the
area under investigation were monitored to compare data.
Data on earthquakes are available 24/7 on the website www.ingv.it/en/ which makes it possible to identify
links between anomalies and seisms in real time.
Discussion
The data show that on the occasion of the 3 earthquakes of a magnitude greater than M5+ that occurred in
the winter period [December 2008 (M5.1), January 2012 (M4.9 and M5.4) and January 2013, (M4.8)], the
reptiles Zamenis longissimus,Anguis fragilis and Vipera aspis were sighted and, in two cases
photographed, because they had awoken prematurely from hibernation shortly before the mainshock in
areas approximately 20km from the epicentre. Both the earthquake of 25 January 2012 and that of 25
January 2013 were preceded by the appearance of radio anomalies and a dramatic increase in the
electromagnetic background (as recorded by the Radio Emission Project station in Rome), followed by a
stasis that preceded the mainshock (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3. Radio anomalies measured respectively, on 25 January 2012 and 25 January 2013, before the seisms. Note the
increase in geomagnetic background preceding the earthquake.
Even if, in the area under investigation, this phenomenon has not been noted in the literature with the
14 NCGT Journal, v. 1, no. 4, December 2013. www.ncgt.org
exception of one case (Straser, 2012), anomalous behaviour among reptiles before strong seisms has been
described by other authors (Tributsch, 1982; Motoji, 2003; Ikeya, 2004).
Just a few months later, in the Emilian Po Valley Plain in northern Italy, around 70-80 km from the area
under investigation, a long seismic sequence featuring seven earthquakes with a magnitude between M5.0
and M6.0, afforded a further opportunity to check for other anomalies. In the area struck by one of the most
powerful seisms, local beekeepers noted the sudden disappearance of bees (apis mellifera) from their hives,
especially near San Carlo (Ferrara – Italy), where a deep crack had formed in the ground near the village
which, in certain stretches, had raised the ground by as much as half a metre and ejected considerable
quantities of mud due to the liquefaction, in some areas and near the dwellings (Straser, 2012). In actual
fact, the behaviour of bees in connection with a strong earthquake is nothing new in the literature (Gould,
1978).
The investigation proceeded in 2009, but this time based on the number of daily admissions to the hospital
A&E department between June and December 2009. During the six months of the investigation, the
maximum number of emergencies was 9 per day, while the earthquakes were in line with the usual number
and magnitude for the Frignano seismic district. The earthquakes from June to December 2009 numbered
10, with a magnitude from M2.5 to M3.6. In 8 cases, in the 48 hours preceding the occurrence of the seism,
there was a greater number of hospital emergencies (Fig. 4).
Hypothesized mechanism
It is hypothesized that the abrupt decrease in electromagnetic background found for the earthquakes of 25
January 2012 and 2013, may have created a variation in the phase agreement between oscillating systems
(oscillatory resonance) and between the vibrations of NH-groups of protein molecules and hydrogen bonds.
Anomalies which, it is further hypothesized, may provoke an aberration or disorientation at a biological
level in an animal, with the result that it no longer recognizes a state of environmental normality (Salari,
2011; Messori, 2011).
In fact, in the language of contemporary physics, the physical reality we are part of, at any level we might
like to consider, is marked by an uninterrupted and multi-dimensional series of phase transitions, where the
phase is the parameter that qualifies the dynamics of a phenomenon both in relation to its temporal
progress and in accordance with its oscillatory properties, that is, with its vibrational configuration
(Kimchi et al., 2005; Del Giudice, 2005).
According to QED (Quantum Electrodynamic Field Theory) the fundamental and determinant role in the
structuring of condensed matter (liquids and solids) is occupied by phenomena of oscillatory resonance or
phase agreement between oscillating systems (Griscom, 1990).
By resonance it is meant that process which facilitates the transfer of energy (capacity to generate
interference) between two oscillating systems that oscillate with a frequency that is equal or almost equal.
For example, the Fröhlich condensates for proteins and nucleic acids, and solitonic waves (solitons)
generated by interaction of the vibrations of NH-groups (amide I vibrations) of protein molecules with
hydrogen bonds (Reimers, 2009).
Consequently, the causes of abnormal behaviour among animals, it is hypothesized, may be influenced by
interference of an electromagnetic nature which is generated during the run-up to an earthquake
(Kirschvink, 1979-2000; Krueger and Reed, 1976).
Conclusion
It is concluded that the data which have emerged from this study confirm the observations carried out in
New Concepts in Global Tectonics Journal, v. 1, no. 4, www.ncgt.org 15
other sites around the world, both with regard to animal behaviour and human health preceding an
earthquake. Naturally, other causes cannot be excluded, for instance, the impact of seasonality in the
investigation conducted into daily hospital emergencies, and other natural factors that might have
awakened reptiles prematurely from their hibernation. These are variables that are difficult to quantify to
establish a correct correlationship value, even if the coincidence between the preparatory phases of seisms
and the finding of reptiles in the snow is surprising, to say the least. Further progress in this field could be
made through interdisciplinary research that took into account, for example, contributions from biology,
biochemistry and ethology, in order to create some forecasts with a certain degree of reliability.
Fig. 4. Histograms of daily emergencies, from June to December 2009, in the hospital situated inside the area under
investigation. In red, the stars indicate the seisms illustrated in Fig. 2.
16 NCGT Journal, v. 1, no. 4, December 2013. www.ncgt.org
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