Animals at the Anshan Zoo, located in Anshan city, Liaoning province, were brought into the city's seismological macro-observation network this week, the Xinhua news agency said.

"About one week before an earthquake happens, animals' behaviors would become obviously abnormal," said Xu Jing, deputy chief engineer of the city's seismological bureau.

And the more abnormal the animals act, the stronger the earthquake would probably be, he said.

Zoo keepers have been told to report to the seismological bureau whenever they find the animals acting strangely.

It is believed that more than 100 kinds of animals can "predict" earthquakes, including horses, donkeys, pigs, cattle, dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, geese, rats, snakes, and fish. Some are restless, some are dazed and some change their habits.

China experiences a large number of earthquakes, Xinhua said, with Liaoning province reporting three earthquakes measuring above 5.0 on the Richter scale since 1970.

The most tragic quake to occur in China struck Tangshan city in Hebei province, near Beijing, on July 28, 1976. Measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, it killed some 242,000 people, according to official figures.

TERRA.WIRE