3.8-magnitude earthquake near Sea of Galilee felt throughout northern and central Israel

Residents in several communities around the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel experienced a 3.8-magnitude earthquake on Wednesday, according to the Geological Survey of Israel.  

The quake took place at 12:50 p.m. at a depth of about 10.5 miles (17 km) beneath the surface at the northeastern corner of the Sea of Galilee and set off alerts in the Jordan Valley region, according to the local municipal authority.

Oded Moskovitz, a long-time resident of Tiberias, who has experienced earthquakes in the area several times before, told Ynet news that he saw a bottle of mineral water moving and “immediately understood it was an earthquake.”

“That was scary,” Moskovitz said, and described the tremors as “short and powerful.”

Revital Golan Haggai of Hadera, about 70 miles from the quake's epicenter, said she was working from home on the sixth floor of the apartment building when the entire structure shook.

“The building suddenly started to shake, really moved from side to side. The lights in the ceiling swayed and all the furniture moved. It was lucky nothing broke,” according to Ynet.

Batel Ben David from Hatzor HaGlilit, a town in northern Israel named after the nearby biblical site of Tel Hazor, said the quake lasted about 10 seconds.

“I thought I was going dizzy,” she told Ynet. “The whole table shook.”

The city of Haifa reportedly felt the earthquake as well. The municipality issued a statement:

"Earthquake alerts were activated in three schools in the city of Haifa. The students were quickly and safely evacuated from the school buildings, and after examining the surroundings and receiving the approval from security guards, the students returned to their studies."

Wednesday’s tremor in the north saw no reports of injury or damage.

Israeli experts have warned that the nation is ill-prepared for a major earthquake and say the northern region is long overdue for a significant seismic event.

Last September, Israeli State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman warned that Israel has “failed in its efforts” to prepare for a major earthquake.

He cited the quake in Morocco and another in Turkey and Syria that killed more than 50,000, as a “painful reminder” of Israel’s need to be ready for a significant seismic event, according to The Times of Israel.

A senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv confirmed: “One hundred percent we will have such an earthquake. A major and disastrous earthquake in Israel is not a question of 'if' – it’s only a question of 'when'.”

In February 2023, the Jordan Valley central region experienced a minor quake. At the time, lawmakers were warned that large cities were inadequately prepared for a major earthquake event when a comptroller report revealed that approximately 600,000 buildings throughout Israel failed to meet the required code standards for earthquake resistance.

In 2020, Tel Aviv University researchers published a study warning that a large earthquake with the potential to cause hundreds of fatalities will likely hit the country soon.

The State of Israel is located on the Syrian-African Rift – or the Dead Sea Transform – which is vulnerable to earthquakes. The last time a major earthquake hit the Jordan Valley region was in 1927.

The “Jericho Earthquake” – a 6.2-magnitude tremor near the Dead Sea town of Jericho – killed 500 people and injured 700 and caused widespread damage in various cities, including Jerusalem, Tiberias, and the city of Nablus.

According to seismologists, earthquakes of that magnitude occur in the area approximately once every 100 years.