Experts are preparing for a strong earthquake after two earthquakes in northern Israel

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After two earthquakes in less than 24 hours, experts warn that a major earthquake is imminent.

“The two earthquakes that occurred last day are not indicative of a larger earthquake, but there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that a major earthquake has occurred,” Dr. Avi Shapira, a seismologist at the University of Haifa, said on Sunday.

Israel experienced a 3.7-magnitude earthquake late on Saturday evening and another 3.5-magnitude earthquake at midday Sunday, both in the Beit She’an area in northeastern Israel.

“We know that this is an area where devastating earthquakes have occurred in the past and are expected to occur in the future,” said Dr. Shapira. “We don’t know if they will be in decades or minutes,” he said.

“The last major earthquake in the region occurred 1,000 years ago and destroyed the largest city at that time, Beit She’an.” Shapira said.

He said that average earthquakes of more than 6 on the Richter scale occur once every 80 to 100 years in our region that includes the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, all the way to Haifa Bay. The country lies near the likely epicenter of a major earthquake in the Great Rift Valley.”

“The two earthquakes in less than 24 hours are worrying, because it is an unusual event, but we have no evidence to suggest that they will be followed by a more damaging and stronger earthquake,” said Dr. Shapira.

He said, “There are tens of thousands of buildings in Israel, which weren’t built to code to resist earthquake, and that makes us unprepared. We estimate a 7.5-magnitude earthquake due to tectonic faults and we’ve even seen more devastating earthquakes around the world.”

“Any earthquake greater than 6 will cause those buildings to collapse. Those are the buildings that were built before 1980 before the code was put in, and that’s our main problem,” he said.

“The Israelis residing in those buildings live in a death trap and when disaster strikes, it will lead to more casualties and destruction than Israel can handle,” he said.

“During the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, despite rescue teams from all over the world trying to help, only 150 people were pulled out of the rubble alive, mostly by their neighbors and immediately after the earthquake, 100,000 people died,” Shapira said. “What should the government invest in? Reinforcement of buildings or additional rescue teams?

Boaz Yousef, the temporary mayor of Tiberias, told Ynet that he felt the quake well when he was in his office in the city council.

“If a stronger earthquake occurs, the entire neighborhood that was built on top of the Great Fault will be destroyed and 260 families will live there,” he said.

“The government should act now to strengthen the buildings in Tiberias,” he said. “This is a big investment, but it must be made before it is too late. We could see hundreds killed.”

Rosen, who served as a senior government official tasked with protecting the homeland, warned that a devastating earthquake was only a matter of time.

“Since the establishment of Israel, the threat of an earthquake has unfortunately not been considered a priority,” he said. “In the past decade, more but not enough has been done, and structures housing schools, municipalities and apartments in old neighborhoods in the north can be an indicator of the disaster that a major earthquake can have.”

Police Commissioner Kobe Shabtai instructed the force on Sunday to prepare for an earthquake.

“Although our forces are prepared to deal with earthquakes, the recent events keep us on alert,” he said.

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