When the Snakes Awake: Animals and Earthquake Prediction

by Helmut Tributsch

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262200449
• ISBN13: 9780262200448
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: MIT Press (MA)
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Fascinating, readable, paradigm-changing

Tributsch gives the reader a book that is based on both historical accounts and conventional/theoretical earth science. For me, having lived through upwards of several hundred minor and major quakes in my misspent youth, it provided tantalizing hints about the origin of earthquake precursors I repeatedly observed. Enlivened by personal accounts, by historical reports, and by the author's own thoughts on quake behavior, this is a rich and compelling read. Thanks to Tributsch's groundbreaking work -- THE book that made it "okay" for scientists to publically express their own quake precursor observations -- studies continue to reveal the multifaceted nature of precursor events. Excellent book for the literate lay reader, and a good paradigm-shaker for conventional earth scientists.

Helmut Tributsch---ahead of his time

Folks, This book you must read and must possess whether you believe or disbelieve that animals can predict earthquakes. I have already worn out two copies of my own since it was first published in 1982. I am so pleased that it has been reprinted, although I do not know if it contains new information. I do know that as a geologic reviewer, I found no errors in the previous printings. Tributsch was originally denied publication in the U.S. and Great Britain, with the mainstream critics claiming it was a collection of anectdotes. After publication in his native German it was deemed so valuable that it was translated by M.I.T. Press and published in English. Tributsch is a true scientist and he does not claim to have all of the answers; however, in my 60 years of studying earthquakes, I have never found a more valuable study in unconventional efforts to anticipate some of the greatest examples of "unpredictable" natural phenomena. Geologist Jim Berkland, MS, CEG 58, Fellow Geol. Soc. America