By Shlomi Diaz, Israel Hayom—
The magnitude 6.4 earthquake that shook Cyprus overnight Monday and was felt in Israel, again raised the question of emergency readiness in case of a major tremor.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said the quake was at a depth of 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) and the rattle was felt throughout Israel, including in Tel Aviv, Beersheba, Jerusalem, Haifa, and Rehovot.
This was the second tremor to reverberate across the Mediterranean in three weeks, with the previous one, magnitude 5.7, hitting Crete, Greece on Dec. 29.
Israel is one of the countries located along the Great Rift Valley – a series of contiguous geographic trenches running approximately 7,000 kilometers (4,300 miles) long and stretching from the Middle East in the north to Mozambique in the south.
The area is seismically active and features volcanoes, hot springs, geysers, and frequent earthquakes.
Professor Zohar Gvirtzman, who heads the Geological Survey of Israel – a public sector organization that advised the government on all aspects of geoscience – told Channel 12 News on Tuesday that while there was no reason on panic, the recent quakes could be foretelling of what Israel could experience in the future.
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