Dateline Jerusalem — I often compare Israel to California. Israel is so small that it can fit into California 19 times.
Weather, climate, topography, flora and fauna are similar. If I want to know what the weather will be like in Israel next week, I call my friends and relatives in California for their weather this week. Joshua trees are native only to Israel and California’s Mojave Desert.
Israel’s Dead Sea, called Yam Hamelach or Salt Sea, is the lowest point on earth,.
California’s Salt Sea, called Salton Sea, is also below sea level. California awaits its overdue Big One, an earthquake along the San Andreas Fault that legend says will cut the state in half.
Israel awaits its overdue Big One along the Syrian-African fault line, one of two major faults running through Israel, known as its San Andreas.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Earthquake Hazards program estimates several million earthquakes occur in the world every year.
Many go undetected because they occur in remote areas or have very small magnitudes. The Survey is actually able to detect and record 20,000 quakes a year, 50 every day.
California is along the Ring of Fire, in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.
Yet the Middle East has its fair share of major quakes. In the 10 years I have lived in Israel, I have experienced only three, all minor.
Holy City Falls Down
However, in 1837 the entire city of Tsfat (Safed) was buried under rubble when a quake leveled it. Five thousand people lost their lives. Thousands were buried in their homes. The city was rebuilt from the rubble.
One difference between Israel and California is that California homes tend to be made of wood that gives during a quake. ,
Israel’s homes and apartments are similar to others in the Middle East, often built on concrete stilts or pillars, constructed from cement blocks and stones.
When there is an earthquake in the Middle East, buildings crumble, collapse, and trap their inhabitants under the rubble. There are new building codes in Israel, but most buildings are not reinforced because they were constructed before the building codes came into effect.
The last major earthquake in Israel was in 1927, its epicenter was in the Dead Sea.
Major quakes usually occur every 80 years. The longer the time between quakes, the greater the magnitude.
Because Israel is so small, almost the entire country experiences quakes when they occur.
Earthquakes can take place at any time and allegedly cannot be predicted.
Therefore Israel prepares for quakes, training Home Front Command, emergency services, and volunteers to deal with mass casualties and injuries, and the catastrophic consequences of a quake such as building collapses, falling debris, fire, gas leaks and landslides.
Since a major rift runs between the Israeli and Jordanian border, Israel coordinates with Jordan and the Palestinian Authority in training them for the inevitable quake that may occur along that rift.
Israel has a great deal of experience with the aftermath of earthquakes. It was one of the first countries to respond to the devastating Haiti quake in 2010.
The Israel Defense Forces sent search-and-rescue teams to find and care for survivors.
They set up the first fully functioning field hospital and surgery center.
My First Time
They provided medicine and advanced equipment that could detect people trapped within the ruins of Haiti’s capital city. Because of Israel, thousands were saved.
The first relatively major quake I experienced was the 1971 Sylmar earthquake when I was a student at UCLA.
I was living on the 10th floor of a 15- story dormitory that was built to sway in an earthquake. It did.
My bed went from one end of my dorm room to the other, with me in it. The quake was only a 6.7 on the Richter Scale.
However, the quake’s intensity was rated as extreme. The Big Ones in California and in Israel are expected to be over 8.0 on the Richter Scale. That means they will be 100 times stronger than the Sylmar quake.
I had a friend who was a police officer in England. She could handle most situations, was afraid of nothing, She was one of the first bobbies to be issued a weapon there. We became friends through the International Police Assn. Every year she would come to California to visit me. One year she arrived the day of a damaging 5.9 quake in Whittier. Frightened, she refused to leave the airport until she could get a flight back to England. She never came to visit me in California again.
In Judaism, the Talmud tells us that when we witness or experience an earthquake for the first time in 30 days, we should immediately make a blessing to help us focus on how the forces of nature are from G-d and expressions of His majesty.
We say, “Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who re-enacts the works of creation.” We can also say, “Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, whose power and might fill the world.”
L’hitraot. Shachar