- Title: ISRAEL/JERUSALEM: EARTH TREMOR SHAKES HOLY LAND.
- Date: 11th February 2004
- Summary: (W5) EIN GEDI, ISRAEL (FEBRUARY 11 2004) (REUTERS) 1. LV/GV/CU: VIEWS OF THE DEAD SEA, THE EPICENTRE OF THE EARTHQUAKE (3 SHOTS) 0.20 2. LV/GV/TRACK: VARIOUS OF MOUNTAINS, SEA (3 SHOTS) 0.40 JERUSALEM (FEBRUARY 11 2004) (REUTERS) 3. GV: VARIOUS OF OLD CITY (2 SHOTS) 0.52 4. CU.MV: CRACKS IN WALL; MAN POINTING AT CRACK IN W
- Embargoed: 26th February 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: EIN GEDI, ISRAEL/ JERUSALEM
- City:
- Country: Israel
- Reuters ID: LVA4G3JD3XPAA46NI3ETC18PCT6B
- Story Text: Earth tremor shakes Holy Land, reminder of prophecy.
An earth tremor shook the Holy Land on Wednesday
(February 11, 2004) scattering Israelis and Palestinians in
panic and sending a reminder of the potential for a
destructive quake foreseen by seismologists and biblical
prophets.
Israel said the epicentre of the quake was at the north
of the Dead Sea and that it measured about five on the
Richter Scale, often felt but rarely strong enough to
cause damage.
Cracks were spotted in Israel's Knesset parliament
building after a session was suspended because of the
tremor. Damage was reported to buildings in the West Bank
city of Nablus and the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.
Fearing further shocks after the first few seconds of
shaking, people ran from offices, homes and schools in
Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian cities. High-rise
buildings were evacuated in Damascus.
The region has a long record of destructive quakes
and more than 40,000 people died in the ancient Iranian
city of Bam in an earthquake on December 26.
In 1927, a quake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale
killed more than 300 people and damaged more than 1,000
buildings in Jericho, Nablus, Jerusalem, Nazareth,
Tiberias, Lod and Ramla.
The biggest quake measured in Israel, also with a
magnitude of 6.2, was in 1995. It was in the Red Sea some
100 km (60 miles) south of the resort of Eilat and caused
no serious damage.
But seismologists have long warned that the Holy Land
could be due for a more serious quake.
Biblical prophets also foresaw destructive
earthquakes, which they believed would herald a return of
the Messiah.
The Hebrew prophet Zecharia predicted that Jerusalem's
Mount of Olives would be cleft in two by a quake.
The New Testament Book of Revelation predicts "a great
earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth."
The Koran, the Muslim holy book, also predicts
destructive earthquakes in the region.
As the panic died down in Israel on Wednesday, radio
stations repeatedly aired the Carole King song "I feel the
earth move under my feet."
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None