Lost pet ads in California predict earthquakes

San Jose geologist Jim Berkland has predicted over 270 earth tremors and earthquakes since 1979 by watching for sudden increases in the number of lost pet ads in the papers. He has been right in his predictions three out of four times. One of his most famous predictions occured in October '89 when he counted 27 lost cat ads in the classified ads - normally there are three or four. Based on this date - and other information such as forecasts of unusually high tides - Berkland predicted in the newspaper that San Francisco would be rocked by a quake registering 6 or higher on the Richter scale. Four days later the neaby San Anderas Fault suddenly shifted, registering 7.1 and killing nearly 70 people.

'Animals somehow sense changes in our magnetic field that precede these kinds of disasters,' says Berkland.