August 24 2016
Israel
A strong one in Italy early in the morning, and another one in Mynamar later on.
Each time a strong earthquake hits planet earth, and earthquake become the hot topic in news and in street talks I keep thinking to myself:
1837, 1927
….
2017?
See, Israel sits on the Syrian-African rift. That means we sits on an active fault between two tectonic plates. Now, it isn’t such an active fault. Just look on the pic below shows the earthquakes above magnitude 4.5 in the last 7 days. None was in our area (mark in red circle). and you can see that around the world there are many earthquakes in magnitude above 4.5.
Does it mean we there are non Earthquakes in our area? There are, but they are more rare. It is good, nobody wants frequent earthquake here he lives. But because they are rare, we don’t have seismic database we can plan according to. Moreover people don’t see a reason to retrofit their houses against earthquakes.
What we do have a lot are wars. So people do built sheltered area, kind of safe room from bombs – a box of concrete. When we adding them to old building, they made it more resisted to earthquakes. But, it might be enough when the next earthquakes will hit.
And when she will hit? The satitstics show there is a strong earthquake in Israel each 100 years in average. The last one was in 1927, before there was in 1837. Ninety years difference. So the next will be in 1927+90=….
2017? 
Take Care
Gad
The pics below are from the last earthquake of July 11 1927 in Israel. The written is the original name of the pics. The They belong to the Library of the Congress:
Damaged tower of Augusta Victoria Stiftung. On Olivet
Damaged room of Augusta Victoria Stiftung. Smashed in by falling stones from the tower.
Damaged main building of Augusta Victoria Stiftung. Sections of masonry shaken down
Blocked-up street in Nablus, choked by fallen houses which entombed many inhabitants
Wrecked dwelling house on Olivet. In which three people were killed
Damage in Tiberias
Great rifts in Jordan banks. Caused by the earthquake
Deep fissures or land openings near the Dead Sea, caused by the earthquake
A house in Nablus reduced to a mere shell by the earthquake
Wreckage of the Winter Palace Hotel, Jericho. A complete collapse
Shattered remains of St. John’s Convent at the Jordan. A complete ruin
Partial collapse of mosque and minaret on Olivet
Nablus in a ruined state. General view of the town showing damage done
Landslide at the Jordan. Reed house & booths left standing on edge
Jordan flow checked by caving in of the river banks. Trees thrown into midstream
Al-Aqsa Mosque after the earthquake (source: youtube.com)