Galilean tremors

July 4, 2008 - 8:45 AM by

Photo of a Beit She'an pillar toppled by an earthquake in the 8th century.Israel’s ancient cities like Jericho and Safed are multi-leveled. Excavations reveal layer upon layer of previous incarnations, largely because of tectonic destruction. We don’t think of today’s Haifa as being as earthquake-prone as, say, Los Angeles, for example. But geologists are quick to point out that we’re sitting on the Syrian-African fault line, a major one that just happens to have been relatively dormant in recent generations.

But that might be changing now. A few minor tremors have emanated from the northern Dead Sea and the Galilee in recent years, with those in taller buildings in Jerusalem and the north feeling the effects most dramatically. Regardless, most experts have assured us that these earthquakes are one-off incidents – not previews of some larger apocalypse on its way. But then again, predicting imminent apocalypse has never been in the repertoire of ordinary lab types.

Now the trend may be changing. Earthquake prediction has become an Israeli high-tech growth industry, while authorities at the Health Ministry and the Geophysical Institute of Israel (GII) are bracing for worst-case scenarios, warning that a big one might shake the Galilee very soon.

More than 500 earthquakes have been logged by the GII in the past five months. Citing the spike in seismologic activity, Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Avi Yisraeli recently alerted area hospitals that “the probability of a massive earthquake – to the magnitude of up to 6 on the Richter Scale – originating in Lebanon and being felt in Israel, has become higher.”

Photo of a Beit She’an pillar toppled by an earthquake in the 8th century courtesy of hoyamegs under a Creative Commons license.

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