A major earthquake, large enough to cause hundreds of fatalities, is expected to hit the country in the coming years, Tel Aviv University researchers warned Tuesday, unveiling the results of a study that bored deep into the bed of the Dead Sea.
“In the coming years, it is likely that a devastating earthquake will hit, causing hundreds of deaths,” the university said in a statement about the findings.
Researchers estimate the quake will have a 6.5 magnitude on the Richter scale, enough to destroy poorly built buildings, cause damage to stronger ones and be felt hundreds of kilometers away.
The study found an earthquake of that scale occurs in Israel, on average, every 130-150 years, but said there have been occasions when the lull was just a few decades.
“The geological record does not lie and a major earthquake in Israel will come,” said Prof. Shmuel Marco, head of Tel Aviv University’s Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, in the statement.
“Of course, we have no way of predicting exactly when the earth will shake under our feet — this is a statistical projection — but unfortunately, I can say that an earthquake that will cause hundreds of casualties will hit in the coming years,” Marco continued. “I don’t want to cause alarm, but we are living in a tectonically active period.
“It could be in ten years or in several decades, but it could also be next week, and we need to constantly be prepared for that,” he said.
The last quake of that magnitude, 6.2 on the Richter scale, hit the Dead Sea valley in 1927, killing 500 people and injuring 700 in Amman in Jordan, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the coastal city of Jaffa. READ MORE
