A 5.2M earthquake hit central and northern Israel, along with surrounding countries, on Monday night, Israeli media and scientific organizations reported.
According to a walla report, the earthquake in Israel was of magnitude 5.2.
רעידת אדמה במגניטודה 5.2 בשעה 23:56 בסביבת העיר חמה בסוריה הורגשה גם בצפון הארץ. @Tziki_Avisar ציקי אבישר, ראש העיר קרית מוצקין התייחס לרעידה בדף הפייסבוק שלו, “אם חשתם ברעידת אדמה קלה במוצקין אתם לא לבד”, וזכה מיד לעשרות תגובות. @WallaNews pic.twitter.com/xYjJppP3C1
— יואב איתיאל מדווח כי (@yoavetiel) August 12, 2024
The quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles), GFZ said.
Regional quake
A 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck Jordan and Syria late on Monday, according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), with residents across both countries and in Lebanon feeling its impacts.
The quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), GFZ said. It had earlier reported the magnitude at 5.46 but revised it down minutes later.
Syria’s state news agency said it had registered the earthquake’s epicentre near the Syrian city of Hama.
Residents across Syria felt the quake, with people in the northern Syrian city of Azaz saying they had immediate flashbacks to the deadly 2023 earthquake that killed thousands in northern Syria and neighbouring Turkey.
The Syrian civil defence operating in opposition-held areas of the war-torn country said they had deployed to several areas to respond to any prospective emergency, but had not received reports of any damage thus far.
Residents across Lebanon also felt the quake.
Israel’s earthquake preparedness
An earthquake was felt three weeks ago in the Dead Sea area and Jerusalem and a 3.8M hit in March.
A State Comptroller report from January warned that Israel was not prepared for a major earthquake, like the ones seen in Morocco, Turkey and Syria last year.
In September, shortly after a massive earthquake struck Morocco killing 2,800 people, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman released a video in which he said, “Six months ago, it was Turkey. On [Friday], Morocco faced a fatal earthquake. The State of Israel continues to neglect earthquake preparedness despite these stark reminders.”
“A strong earthquake in Israel is a matter of time,” Englman wrote. “The state is still not adequately prepared for an earthquake event.”
60% of Israel’s hospitals are not resistant to earthquakes, and only approximately 5% of schools and other educational institutions have been or are being reinforced.
Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman contributed to this report.
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