Seismic Activity & Earthquakes
Large earthquakes are rare in Israel, but it is located in a seismically active region, where many small earthquakes occur yearly. As I mentioned in my previous post, one of the largest earthquakes occurred in 1837, with a magnitude of approximately 6.8.The Dead Sea Fault runs between Israel and Jordan, known for seismic activity. Big earthquakes happen in the area about every hundred years. A geological survey monitors seismic activity, and if an earthquake of at least 4.5 magnitude is detected the military immediately warns the cities. If a serious earthquake hits the northern Dead Sea there will be no time to warn anyone nearby. For instance, since Jerusalem is outside of the blind zone they will have a 4-5 second warning, and Tel Aviv (60km west) will have 21 seconds. If a large earthquake were to happen in northern Israel, it could potentially impact every major population center in the country located within 44 miles of the Dead Sea Rift.
Due to historical data on large earthquakes, it is challenging to evaluate rupture probabilities. For this reason, seismologists use tools like regional and local GPS data and geological evidence from previous earthquakes for future analysis. AIR has developed a kinematic model to determine continuous strain rate and the velocity field across the whole plate boundary zone (see below).
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Very good seismic reflection!
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