Civil Defense Force Vs. Earthquakes
Jerusalem24 – The Jordan Valley is over the rift that is the result of tectonic movements within the Dead Sea Transform (DSF) fault system.
The DSF forms the transform boundary between the African Plate to the west and the Arabian Plate to the east. The Golan Heights and all of Transjordan are part of the Arabian Plate, while the Galilee, Judean, and Samarian highlands (West Bank), Coastal Plain, and the Negev along with the Sinai Peninsula are on the African Plate.
This tectonic disposition leads to a relatively high seismic activity in the region.
In the first half of February, a small earthquake was felt with a second one following within several hours, forming the latest in a string of tremors to the area over the past month.
The Geological Survey of Israel’s seismology division said the quake measured 3.2 magnitude on the Richter scale and had an epicenter 15 kilometers (9.5 miles) northeast of Beit She’an.
Last year, in 2020, Tel Aviv University researchers warned that a major earthquake, large enough to cause hundreds of causalities is expected in the years to come.
In this episode of Wake Up Palestine, Jerusalem24 hosted Lt. Colonel Raed Qazmouz, the head of the Central Operations Room, and Lt. Colonel Nael Al-Azzeh the head of the Public Relations at the Palestinian Civil Defense Force.
Qazmouz discusses the nature of the danger of earthquakes and the readiness and response of the Palestinian Civil Defense Force in the case that an earthquake strikes. While Al-Azzeh discusses preventive and safety guidelines and the challenges they face in raising awareness regarding earthquakes.