When the Snakes Awake – Animals & Earthquake Prediction: Animals and Earthquake Prediction (The MIT Press) - Softcover

Tributsch, Helmut

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262700255 ISBN 13: 9780262700252

Publisher: MIT Press, 1984

Synopsis

Two days before an earthquake struck Helice, Greece, in 373 B.C., the snakes, weasels, and worms deserted the city. Minutes before the Naples quake of 1805, oxen, sheep, dogs, and geese cried out in unison. A herd of horses tore loose and ran off in panic just prior to the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Helmut Tributsch thinks that these accounts are more than mere superstition and old wives' tales. In this book, he presents the first plausible explanation of why animals behave in unusual ways prior to the onset of an earthquake. Scientists and nonscientists alike will find fascinating reading in his unusual study.

About this title

Review

In this exhaustive compilation of reports from about 78 earthquakes dating from 373 B.C. to 1979, Helmut Tributsch convincingly argues that there is an explanation for abnormal animal behavior before an earthquake. He also makes an impassioned plea against science's exclusive reliance on geophysical measurements for earthquake prediction.

--Barbara Bright, The New York Times Book Review

Synopsis

Describes the unusual behavior animals exhibit in the hours before an earthquake, recounts atmospheric disturbances that seem to accompany quakes, and theorizes a possible connection between the two.

Edition details

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 1984
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262700255
• ISBN 13: 9780262700252
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 268