In the afternoon of the May 12, 2008, a terrible earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale hit a mountainous region in Western China inhabited by 15 million people. The worst earthquake that hit China in the last three decades has caused major life loss but according to locals, the disaster could have been avoided, if the authorities would have given more attention to the warning signs.

In chat rooms and on the Internet forums, people say the first sign of the earthquake was an event that happened three weeks before the tragedy when a large amount of water from a pond in Enshi city in Hubei province disappeared inexplicably.

Another strange event that could be seen as a sign was the fact that just 3 days before the earthquake, thousands of toads appeared on the streets of a city that was hit by the earthquake, not only that, but hours before earthquake animals in the zoo started to behave strangely. Lions which were normally sleeping were walking around, birds were making more noise than usual, and zebras banged their heads against the doors.

Experts say that animals could feel the weak earthquake waves before the earthquake, but still a prediction of an earthquake based on the animal's behavior could not be done.