October Quake Strikes Great Rift - The BAS Library

On the night of October 13, 2007, a mild earthquake, measuring 3.0 on the Richter scale, roiled the Great Rift Valley between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. A similar quake occurred two months earlier.

According to researchers at Tel Aviv University, as reported by Israel National News, it has been centuries since a major quake hit this danger area between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. “It’s like the first winter rain,” said Dr. Shmuel Marko, who took part in a recent quake study, “The longer the dry summer lasts, the closer the first rain is. Here, as well. The quiet is worrisome. The longer we go without a large quake, the more we can expect one.”

In 1927, approximately 250 people were killed in an earthquake centered near Jericho.

MLA Citation

“October Quake Strikes Great Rift,” Biblical Archaeology Review 34.1 (2008): 36.