Earthquakes

Last night I was up late playing Scrabble online and watching Grey's Anatomy via iTunes (typical night owl activities!) when I felt a rumbling sensation. No, not tanks entering Ramallah...earthquakes. It was my second earthquake experience (my first being earlier this year in San Francisco). It wasn't particularly scary, but it's always an odd sensation to feel the earth moving beneath you, knowing that there's nothing you can do about it. My guess is that the stone construction here is not exactly designed for earthquakes, either.

This AM, I googled "earthquakes" "middle east" and found out that it was a 4.1 magnitude quake, and that it was the third to strike the region this week. The Geophysical Institute of Israel (GII) reported Saturday that a 4.1 magnitude earthquake was felt throughout the country. No injuries or damage were reported. This one originated in the plains area, the ones earlier this week were in the Dead Sea.

The African-Syrian rift runs along the border with Jordan, and is responsible for the Dead Sea and the lovely hot springs I went to last week. Some people think that when the walls came tumbling down in ancient Jericho, it was the result of an earthquake along this same fault line. Supposedly, the region is due for another big one.

Nice!