“I felt the bed shake…It sounds dramatic, but after seeing the photos of the destruction in Turkey and Syria, I’m nervous now,” said a resident of Israel’s Northern Central District.
By Adina Katz, World Israel News
For the fourth time in three days, an earthquake was felt Wednesday evening throughout Israel, especially in the north.
On Monday morning at approximately 3:30, Israelis in the north and center of the country felt a light impact following the massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Nine hours later, when the second, lighter quake hit the two countries again, some Israelis reported feeling the tremor.
On Tuesday evening, a minor earthquake of 3.5 magnitude was reported in the Jerusalem area.
Tremors were felt again Wedensday evening, just before 9 p.m. According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center, the epicenter was near the Syrian-Lebanon border, with a magnitude of 4.3 and a depth of 30 km. The data of the Geological Survey of Israel indicates that the magnitude of the earthquake was 4.1.
Hebrew-language Ynet interviewed Sara Cohen, a resident of the northern coastal city of Nahariya, who said, “I was sitting on the sofa in the living room, and in an instant the sofa started to move. The bed also moved. It was fast and not too strong. I immediately understood that it was an earthquake, this time on the northern border.”
Naor Lavi, a resident of Kiryat Ata, told Ynet that “at around 9:00 p.m., I felt the third earthquake that caught me during my birthday today. It was very scary. The last few days are disturbing and scary. Israel is unfortunately not ready for a stronger earthquake.”
Shelly Levi, a resident of Netanya – situated on the coast between Haifa and Tel Aviv – told World Israel News:
“At about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, I felt the bed shake. I didn’t initially think it was an earthquake for a few reasons. Earthquakes aren’t common in Israel, so that possibility simply didn’t come to my mind. Storm Barbara was happening at the same time as the quake, and with the winds that reached 100 kilometers per hour in some cities in Israel, I mistakenly thought the feeling of the building swaying was related to those gusts. I then turned on the light and saw my ceiling lamp swinging, and finally understood that it was an earthquake.
“About nine hours later, at 12:30 p.m., I felt my apartment building swaying again, and the door to my bedroom was swinging open and closed. There was a sensation almost like being on a boat, and I felt intense motion sickness for several hours afterwards. It really threw me off balance.
“It sounds dramatic,” Levi continued, “but after seeing the photos of the destruction in Turkey and Syria, I’m nervous now. Luckily, I live in a building that was built about 10 years ago, but I can imagine that many older buildings – especially those in the Tel Aviv area that aren’t well-maintained – wouldn’t be able to survive.
“It also feels like the earthquakes are getting closer and closer, traveling south from the Turkey/Syria area, and the fact that there have been three in just a few day span worries me,” she said.
Indeed, experts in Israel have warned that the country is not prepared. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the National Security Council to assess the situation.
The death toll in Turkey and Syria following the massive earthquake on Monday morning, followed by two weaker ones, has risen to 11,000. Israel is providing medical and humanitarian aid to both countries.