Euphorion says in his memoirs that …during the very old times. This indicates a definite sense of the great antiquity, which implies indirectly the antiquity of the fossils. Neades: Their mere roar could fracture the earth. The mere roar or their strong sound would fracture the earth is interpreted as earthquakes and which were thought to be caused by the fossils (the Neades). The same writer [Euphorion] says that their big bones for years are now displayed. Displayed means exhibited (same word in Greek) suggesting a public display of the bones. We emphasize that the meaning is directly about the bones on display and not a meaning of the bones found in the countryside. The remains of the Neades were displayed as in a museum or a shrine. This agrees with the original concept of a museum as a place where curious things are kept. “Museum” in Greek means the place of the muses. In 1988, German archaeologists discovered a large fossil thighbone of an extinct animal that had been placed by the ancient altar of the Temple of Hera (Heraion or Ireon) on Samos sometime during or before the 7th century BC (Kyrieleis 1988). Ireon was an important temple of its day and maintained, in addition to the ceremonial grounds, an extensive collection of natural wonders and exotic animals. Their mere roar could fracture the earth. It is clear that the strange animals were believed to cause earthquakes. The bones are found at a major fault zone and we assume that the Greeks made the connection between earthquakes and fractures on the ground. Thus, faults were recognized and related to earthquakes. To scream louder than the Neades. The proverb seems to refer to vivid memories of the roar that accompanied an earthquake.
Plutarch, in his Greek Questions (~100 AD) addressed the question: What is the reason that on Samos there is a region called Panaima [all bloody place or bloodbath]? The answer is the Amazons, fleeing from Dionysus, fell [or were trapped] on Samos [fleeing] from the land of the people of Ephesos. Dionysus constructed ships, passed [from the mainland to Samos] and fought the Amazons, killing most of them, in various locations [on Samos]. Such a vast amount of blood spilled that people who noticed the red-stained earth called the place by the name Panaima. Some of the φ [letter phi changed later to elephants] died near the place called Phloios and their bones can still be seen there. Some say that they fractured Phloios because of their prodigious bellowing.