Palestinians and inhabitants of the Jordan River region had their world gently rocked by a small earthquake at 14:35 GMT Wednesday, 7 July.Registering 4.7 on the Richter scale, this quake was a small tremor compared to anticipated seismic activity with a magnitude 6-6.5, expected in the near future.
The epicenter was 25 km north of the Dead Sea (Lat. 32 long. 35 32"), at about 35 km, depth, between King Hussein Bridge and Prince Muhamad Bridge along the Dead Sea fault. No reported damages or casualties are reported.
In February another earthquake hit, measuring 5.1 on Richter scale.Dr. Jalal Dabeek, Director of Earth Sciences and Seismic Engineering Center (ESSEC) at An-Najah National University warned that the main danger from earthquakes is due to inadequacies in the structure of Palestinian buildings. Many buildings are built without meeting even the minimum requirements of seismic considerations.