Israel to be hit by a destructive earthquake soon, study shows

DECEMBER 28, 2020 11:20

A destructive earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale is expected to hit Israel and its surrounding neighbors in the coming years, a new study led by researchers from Tel Aviv University has found.

According to the study published in the Science Advances journal, which reviewed about 220,000 years of Dead-Sea geology by drilling and studying the seabed, the researchers showed that a pattern can be seen since such devastating earthquakes seem to be hitting the region every 130 to 150 years.

Given that the last one that hit the region 93 years ago, the researchers predict that another earthquake should hit the region in the near future.

The last earthquake with such magnitude, which hit the Dead Sea region in 1927, caused injuries to hundreds of people and damage to several main cities, such as Jordan’s capital Amman, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Jaffa.

“According to the latest earthquake, which is the best indicator we have, about 250 people were killed in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Amman and Jericho,” Prof. Shmuel Marco, head of the Porter School of Environmental and Earth Sciences at Tel Aviv University, told Ynet.

“So if we compare it to the number of people inhabiting these cities today, 100 years later, the population has grown by about two to three times,” he said. “This means the number of casualties will be two to three times as much, not to mention the massive damages to infrastructure and property.”