On Sunday, two minor earthquakes shook Israel, setting off the aptly-named Teruah warning system. While experts institute practical measures to prepare for the much-predicted devastating earthquake, the Biblically minded are making more spiritual preparations for the prophesied pre-Messiah shake-up.
According to the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command, the epicenter of the first quake was some 16 kilometers (9.9 miles) southeast of Tiberias and measured 4.1 on the Richter scale. The second quake measured 3.7-magnitude and was centered near Bet Shean in the Jordan Valley.
Though there were no injuries, IDF Home Front Command engineers assisted the Tiberias municipality in surveying 60 buildings that residents reported were damaged by the earthquakes.
According to data presented by Kan News on Sunday, about 60 % of the homes in Israel are still not protected from missile attacks, earthquakes, or collapse due to obsolescence. More than half of Israeli citizens live in a building not properly protected against such events.
According to Kan, a major earthquake is predicted to cause about 7,000 deaths and 145,000 injuries, with 170,000 people left homeless and 320,000 buildings damaged.
The earthquakes on Sunday triggered the Teruah early warning system that was installed in 2019. The system, composed of 120 sensors running along a 400-kilometer length of the Dead Sea Rift from Eilat to the Golan Heights, can issue an earthquake warning of several seconds up to several minutes, depending on the location of the earthquake’s epicenter.
In a manner that is counterintuitive, the EEW system (Earthquake Early Warning) warning, issued via cell phone, travels faster than the destructive waves of the earthquake. Hence, people located further from the epicenter will receive a more advanced warning.
When an earthquake occurs in the northern Dead Sea, the warning for Jerusalem residents will be about three seconds, for Tel Aviv residents about 18 seconds, and for Haifa residents about 30 seconds. However, if an earthquake occurs in the Beit Shean Valley, Jerusalem will have 20 seconds warning, Tel Aviv 19 seconds, and Haifa 12 seconds. READ MORE
