Bird sales soar as they are believed to sense quakes

VAN

The sale of birds, such as parakeets and canaries, is soaring, especially in the eastern province of Van, as many believe that such birds can sense foreshocks seconds before an earthquake strikes.

Based on the information that many songbirds flutter and panic minutes before an earthquake, citizens flocked to pet stores after the quakes centered in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş.

A shopkeeper, Fatih Özdemir, stated that many animals have the ability to sense an earthquake before it happens.

“The owner can understand when the animal is restless. Of course, whether an earthquake comes to mind at that moment depends. But animals have such a talent. I have experienced this myself,” he said.

Stating that he saw the fluttering of birds during the Van earthquake but did not think of the earthquake at that moment, Özdemir said that by the time they had figured it out, it was too late.

Stressing there is a great demand for some bird species, he said production cannot keep up with the demand and that their prices have gone up a lot.

These birds are also easy and effortless to feed at home, he added.

The idea that animals can sense strong earthquakes before humans has been around since ancient times, and there is scientific research to support it.

Scientists say that just as seismological machines can detect tremors that the human body cannot, animals are equipped to detect small preliminary shocks that pass through the earth seconds before the stronger earthquake waves arrive. Some researchers say animals might be able to sense earthquakes even before their foreshocks.