BEIJING: Days before the earthquake, hundreds of thousands of toads swarmed through a town near the epicentre, leading to a storm of speculation on whether there was a connection.

Internet blogs have been buzzing with news of the potential omen, with one website showing footage of a street in Mianyang covered by a countless number of the small brown amphibians.

But an expert from China Seismological Bureau said there were "complicated reasons" why animals could behave abnormally. "An earthquake is only one of them, along with climate change and weather conditions," he said.

A forestry official blamed it on the mating season. Many of the toads were squashed under cars or by pedestrians.