2. Toads appear to be able to sense an impending earthquake and will flee their colony days before the earthquake happens. The evidence comes from a group of toads which left their breeding colony three days before an earthquake struck L’Aquila in Italy in 2009. It is hard to study how animals respond to earthquakes. One reason for this is because earthquakes are rare and unpredictable . Some studies have been done on how domestic animals respond, but measuring the response of wild animals is more difficult.