Feline Sixth Sense: Watch Cats Flee Earthquake Seconds Before It Strikes

5 comments
On June 18, 2018, the feline residents of a cat café in Japan were happily going about their business of catnapping and sunbathing when they suddenly leapt to their paws, instantly on high alert.

 

 

There’s no indication on the video as to why the cats suddenly dive for cover. But moments later, the answer is clear as the ground rumbles and the cat trees and cages begin to shake: an earthquake.

 

 

Luckily, none of the nearly two dozen cats living in the CAT Café CATchy were injured. The earthquake was short and not particularly intense, measuring a 3 out of 7 on the Shindo seismic scale.

If you watch the video closely, it appears that some of the cats are agitated a full 10 to 11 seconds before the quake actually strikes.

 

It raises a question for us here at Meowingtons. Do cats have a Sixth Sense? Can cats actually sense an earthquake before it even happens?

According to National Geographic, the belief that animals can predict earthquakes has been around for centuries, with historians recording strange animal behavior prior to an earthquake as early as 373 B.C. In modern times, the majority of evidence of animals predicting earthquakes is almost entirely anecdotal. Many pet owners have claimed that their cats and dogs began acting strangely before the ground actually began shaking, by barking or yowling for no apparent reason, or showing signs of nervousness and restlessness.

One theory is that wild and domestic creatures are more sensitive and can feel the Earth vibrate before humans. Others still suggest they can detect electrical changes in the air or gas released from the Earth, thus alerting them to the oncoming quake.

[h/t Laughing Squid]

Have you ever noticed unusual animal behavior before an earthquake?

 



5 comments


  • Rock Brentwood

    After, not before. They responded a full second after the earthquake started. Pay closer attention. There’s a micro-tremor a full second before they woke up; a second one at about 1/4 second before they awoke; a third one about 1 second before the main earthquake wave arrives. Each micro-tremor is about 0.1 to 0.2 seconds in duration. You might not have noticed them (and the cats didn’t even notice the first one), but I sure did! This is why you should always be mindful of your surroundings.


  • GG

    My cat was racing like crazy through the apartment. Just wouldn’t stop running from from one end to the other. Then she suddenly stopped. I was watching the news a half hour later and it was reported that we’d had a small earthquake. The time quoted was exactly when my cat was racing around. I hadn’t felt a thing.

    I had another cat years ago that did the same type of running running running, but he did it no matter where the earthquake occurred in the world. I’d check the online earthquakes page and sure enough, they corresponded with his racing around.


  • Carol Coffelt

    I have three cats and we live in Phoenix,Arizona. When we go to California they start meowing by Indio and continue to meow periodically as we go west through the fault system there. When we go east toward Az they quiet down.


  • Carol Coffelt

    I have three cats and we live in Phoenix,Arizona. When we go to California they start meowing by Indio and continue to meow periodically as we go west through the fault system there. When we go east toward Az they quiet down.


  • Pamela Schantz

    Cats and all animals (fur babies) are intuitive and can sense what’s going to happen next, I believe this to be true .I had a fur baby that would bounce of our windows, when he would feel a rumble of thunder before we would feel it, we knew that something was coming.


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