Dateline Jerusalem – The word for earthquake in Hebrew is רעידת אדמה, pronounced “ree-daht ah-dah-mah.” As of today, Israel has experienced seven small earthquakes in a week’s time. Like California, people worry the Big One, a magnitude of 7 or more on the Richter Scale, may shortly strike. Like California, Israel is long overdue for a major quake. Although I had learned in the States that small quakes release energy that takes the pressure off a large one, experts here say a cluster of small quakes in a short period can be a precursor to a gigantic one. Historically, Israel has major quakes of a magnitude 6 or more every 80 years. Being a small country, no matter where the epicenters are, everyone feels them.
Like California, whose San Andreas Fault runs throughout the state, Israel is situated along the Syria-Africa Rift. It runs running northern Syria to Mozambique, the entire eastern border between Israel and neighboring Syria and Jordan. A week ago there was a 6.4 quake whose epicenter was in the Mediterranean Sea, Israel's western border. It was felt by Israelis in central and southern cities of Ranaana, Ashkelon, and Rehovot where I live. The major concern seems to be the six most recent little quakes whose epicenters were in the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) in northern Israel, on the Syria-Africa Rift. On the southern tip of Israel, the city of Eilat, felt a quake from the bordering country of Egypt.
Experts predict a major quake could kill 7,000. The longer the time between quakes, the greater the magnitude of the quake. Much of the country is not quake-proof, old buildings that have not been reinforced because they were constructed prior to the new building codes, Casualties could be horrendous when the stone and concrete buildings collapse. Many of the apartments are built on concrete pillars that may not withstand a major quake.
The last big one was in 1927, although a 1937 magnitude 7 hit Tzfat (Safed) in northern Israel, killing 4,000. When I visited Tzfat five years ago, my tour guide said the entire city was rebuilt because it had been buried under rubble. In 1995, I visited Eilat a month after an earthquake. Many hotels were damaged. Since I have been in Israel, I have only felt four small quakes, all under 4. One was in the Dead Sea at 120 miles from Rehovot. I probably felt it because my apartment building is on concrete pillars. I call them stilts.
In the States I was a nervous wreck about earthquakes, always checking geologic reports and websites. I am a bit calmer now. I still have my earthquake supplies as though I were once again a Be Prepared Girl Scout. I no longer run my life according to earthquake predictions, though. The Big One is overdue, whether here or in California. Even if I were to move elsewhere, I have learned that quakes follow me.
L'hitraot. Shachar