A 3.5-magnitude tremor occurred at 11:14 p.m. local time and was centered around 24 miles north of Jerusalem, according to Israel’s Energy Ministry’s Seismology Division. The Home Front Command said the earthquake warning system dubbed Teruah was not activated because the tremor did not pose a danger to residents. No significant damage was reported.
Arab reports from Jenin and Shechem say that cracks have formed on dozens of buildings.
Massive earthquakes in Israel are mentioned in many prophetical accounts about the end of days. According to these accounts, these earthquakes will be so severe as to cause geographic changes in the Temple Mount, requiring the construction of an entirely new city. The quakes will cause springs of water to burst forth around Jerusalem, bringing about the prophecy in Zechariah.
And it shall come to pass in that day that living waters shall go out from Yerushalayim: half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter shall it be.” Zechariah 14:8
This prophesied earthquake will split the Mount of Olives in two.
On that day, He will set His feet on the Mount of Olives, near Yerushalayim on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall split across from east to west, and one part of the Mount shall shift to the north and the other to the south, a huge gorge. Zechariah 14:4
A sinkhole that appeared in the courtyard of an Arab-owned house in the Ras al Amud neighborhood of Jerusalem adjacent to the Mount of Olives offered a glimpse of the biblical narrative coming to life. Israel has experienced heavy rains for the past week and the cause of the sinkhole is unknown.
Israel’s Jordan Valley and Dead Sea are part of the Syrian-African Rift Valley, which stretches from Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley to Mozambique in Southeastern Africa. Large earthquakes usually hit Israel approximately once every 90 years and there is concern that another one is due – considering that the most recent one occurred in 1927. That event saw more than 400 people killed and extensive damage to buildings in Jerusalem and Hebron.
According to data presented by Kan News, 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.
For this reason, 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.
On Monday, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Turkey-Syria border region on Monday killing more than 7,000 people with some 31,000 people injured. Israel has sent rescue teams to Turkey and offered humanitarian aid to Syria.
Also on Tuesday night, an earthquake of magnitude 4.8, followed by another of magnitude 3.2, occurred in central Turkey and was felt in Israel.
