I think it’s supposed to be the first few letters of “quake”. 
What’s with the Chinese report of snakes surfacing, before an earthquake, and then freezing to death, while at the same time birds sitting on nests flew off?
Unless the Chinese ‘seismologist’ observers were several degrees of latitude apart, bird eggs will have been laid in spring when freezing conditions would be a lot less likely.
I know that four-footed animals, and people, can feel the ground quiver.
However, a goldfish floating in water would not feel the same. Later, the water would slosh around and maybe slop over, thus spilling the little critter on the
deck. Then he/she would get a jolt- - -minutes before the end, not by drowning
but because the whole building collapsed on him/it. Does that answer your question ?
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