A small earthquake shook the Sea of Galilee area on Tuesday
morning, the fifth such tremor in less than a week.
The quake, measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale, caused no
reported damage or injuries.
On Sunday, two minor earthquakes, both measuring 3.6 in
intensity, were reported in the north, which followed similar quakes on
Saturday and Thursday. No injuries have been reported, although some buildings
in Tiberias were lightly damaged by the tremors.
Last Sunday, a 6.4-magnitude quake, centered in the
Mediterranean Sea near Crete, was felt in Athens, Egypt and Israel.
And in September, an early-morning 3.5-magnitude quake was
felt in the northern Dead Sea area, including in Jerusalem.
In response to the string of temblors, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu convened a special cabinet meeting Monday to discuss the
state’s earthquake preparedness, and, on Sunday, the Home Front Command and
emergency services representatives held a meeting to discuss emergency
procedures in the case of a more major earthquake.
However, seismologist Dov Lakovsky of the Geophysical
Institute of Israel told The Times of Israel Sunday that there was no cause for
alarm and that the quakes were just “a bit stronger than usual.” Such tremors,
he said, “happen all the time.”
According to the GII’s statistics, seven earthquakes strong
enough to be felt have rattled Israel in 2013.
Israel is situated along the Syrian-African rift, a tear in
the earth’s crust running the length of the border separating Israel and
Jordan, and is part of the Great Rift Valley, which extends from northern Syria
to Mozambique.
Israel’s last major earthquake rattled the region in 1927 —
a 6.2-magnitude tremor that killed 500 and injured another 700.
An earthquake in 1837 left as many as 5,000 people dead.
According to a 2010 Haaretz report, major earthquakes strike Israel once every
80 years or so.
The country is currently in the midst of a major program of
upgrading buildings to withstand earthquakes.
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