Earthquake Shakes Israel

November 21, 2005

According to the Geophysical Institute of Israel, the tremor was felt in Nahariya, Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Rehovot. People in Jerusalem told Jerusalem Newswire they had felt the quake too. No injuries or damages were reported.

Israel’s location alongside the massive Syrian-African rift means the country frequently experiences earthquakes, as two tectonic plates rub against one another. About 400 quakes occur every year, but most are so minor they can only be recorded by a seismograph.

Meanwhile, mystery surrounds another earthquake that was reportedly felt throughout the country on the evening of September 27, shortly after 10:00 p.m.

While visiting friends in the Jerusalem suburb known as Abu Tor, located adjacent to the Hinnom Valley and about a kilometer (0.6 mile) south of the Temple Mount, this reporter felt the building move and heard a vibrating sound, which continued for about eight seconds. Somewhat ominously, the conversation in the third-story apartment had just been about earthquakes and the reported vulnerability of this particular neighborhood to this phenomenon.

Minutes later, another Jerusalem Newswire staff member reported that he had felt the shaking on the other side of the capital; it had been strong enough to wake his baby boy.

Subsequently, a family down in the Negev town of Sde Boker said they had felt a shaking too. Shortly afterwards, the SMS (text messaging) Israel news service reported that an earthquake had been felt throughout the country. However, no one else picked up on and reported the occurrence. Neither the G2 nor the Scotland-based Edinburgh Earth Observatory’s Worldwide Earthquake Locator show any records of the September 27 event.

The last strong quake hit Israel on February 11, 2004. Measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale. It was strong enough to crack the ceiling in the Knesset (Parliament) building. The marble kitchen counter in this reporter’s apartment was also cracked through in that quake.

An Israeli seismologist subsequently warned a joint session of the Knesset Interior and Environment Committee that between five and ten thousand people could die if an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 struck the country. The Knesset annually debates the lack of readiness in Israel for a major tremor that is anticipated sometime in the next few years.

Bible readers know that a number of major earthquakes are prophesied to hit Israel, including one in which seven thousand people will be killed (Rev. 11:13) and another which will split Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives in two when the Messiah comes to establish His reign on the earth (Zech. 14:4).

By Stan Goodenough, Jerusalem Newswire

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