A study provides evidence that a statistically significant amount of unusual natural phenomena immediately preceded the Great Hanshin Earthquake of January 1995 that devasted the city of Kobe. For example, the night sky was unusally bright, and snakes became active right in the middle of their winter hibernation. Osaka University Professor Emeritus Kiyoshi Wadatsumi collected 1,280 such examples of unusual phenomena from among the local population after the earthquake.