Earthquake weather

Earthquake weather is a type of weather popularly believed to precede earthquakes.

History

Since ancient times, the notion that weather can somehow foreshadow coming seismic activity has been the topic of much discussion and debate.Geologist Russell Robinson has described "earthquake weather" as one of the most common pseudoscientific methods of predicting earthquakes.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) website states that Aristotle proposed in the 4th century BC that earthquakes were caused by winds trapped in subterranean caves. Small tremors were thought to have been caused by air pushing on the cavern roofs, and large ones by the air breaking the surface. This theory led to a belief in 'earthquake weather', that because a large amount of air was trapped underground, the weather would be hot and calm before an earthquake. A later theory stated that earthquakes occurred in calm, cloudy conditions, and were usually preceded by strong winds, fireballs, and meteors. A modern theory proposes that certain cloud formations may be used to predict earthquakes; however, this idea is rejected by most geologists.