by Charly Wegman
JERUSALEM, Feb 12 (AFP) - Their nerves already stretched taut by fear of Palestinian attacks, Israelis are now having to contend with a new danger to their lives with warnings that an earthquake on Wednesday could be the precursor of much worse to come.
"Israel Trembles", "The Earth Moved", "Panic" were some of the headlines on the front-pages of the Israeli dailies Thursday after the temblor which registered 4.5 on the Richter scale, relegating the killing of 15 Palestinians by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip on the same day to the inside pages.
Frightened office workers were evacuated as a precaution when the 20-second quake hit Israel in mid-morning while in the West Bank, Palestinian residents also rushed out shouting in the streets of Nablus and Hebron.
Seismologists placed the epicenter of the quake north of the Dead Sea and its impact was also felt in Jordan, Lebanon and southern Syria.
Situated on the Syria-Africa fault line, the Jewish state has been the scene of numerous earthquakes over the years.
Israel's instititute of geophysics, based in the city of Lod, recalled Thursday that hundreds of people were killed in a tremor back in 1927 that registered 6.2 on the Richter scale and also had its epicenter near the Dead Sea.
The Jewish historian Flavius Jospeh also detailed how in 31 BC some 30,000 people perished in a quake in the same region.
The biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, supposedly scorched into oblivion, are also located close by.
The national seismology institute hardly helped ease nerves of a modern day disaster when it said that "statistically, a major earthquake which could leave up to 10,000 dead should take place in around 50 years."
The English-language Jerusalem Post quoted a report submitted by seismology experts to the government saying that "the area is an ecological disaster just waiting to happen."
Israeli authorities are trying to allay fears by sending out leaflets to every household, packed full of useful advice in the event of a quake such as to take cover under a table.
In a report filed in May 2001, state comptroller Eliezer Goldber reproached the government for failing to put into practise recommendations first submitted in 1980 to limit the effects of a quake.
According to the former supreme court judge, the housing ministry had failed to carry out reinforcement work on any buildings while the environment and interior ministries had also failed to take action in their areas of responsibility.
Goldberg also warned of "catastrophic risks" which could lie in store for the port of Haifa which is home to industrial plants producing chemicals if disaster struck.
Yoav Sarna, president of the association of engineers, architects and technology graduates underlined that "tens of thouands of buildings built before 1990 lack any protection" against earthquakes.
Fatalists also ran their eyes over the words of the biblical prophet Ezekiel who predicted "a great shaking in the land of Israel".
chw/jp/co/hc Mideast-Israel-quake
Copyright (c) 2004 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 02/12/2004 10:12:27
