Thursday, August 25, 2011
Many animals at the National Zoo in Washington sensed the rare 5.8 magnitude earthquake that shook the US east coast before it struck and began to behave strangely, zoo officials said.
The epicenter of the surprise quake was located in a small Virginia town 134 kilometers (84 miles) southwest of the US capital.
Despite the distance, the zoo’s red-ruffed lemurs “sounded an alarm call about 15 minutes before the quake and then again just after it occurred,” the zoo said in a statement Wednesday.
The zoo’s flock of 64 flamingos rushed about and grouped themselves together just before the quake, then remained huddled as the earth shook.
Full story here.