State Controller: Israel Isn't Prepared for a Major Earthquake

In the wake of the earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people in Morocco, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman cautioned Israel on Sunday that it had not adequately prepared for a severe earthquake.

The State of Israel has not adequately prepared for an earthquake in spite of warning indications.

The prime minister and the pertinent minister must address the issues right away rather than waiting for a commission of inquiry after a disaster, Englman said in a statement.

After the holidays, he promised to publish a thorough report explaining the threat.

According to a State Comproller’s Report released in March, 93% of all the buildings in northeastern Israeli cities that are awaiting reinforcement could collapse if an earthquake of sufficient severity occurs.

Even though the Construction and Housing Ministry set aside funds to fortify the buildings, the research found that just 84 (7%) of the 1,208 structures that needed reinforcement had gone through the procedure.

The five cities of Beit She’an, Tiberias, Safed, Kiryat Shmona, and Hazor Hagalilit have not done enough to prepare for an earthquake scenario.

Neither have the government ministries or municipal administrations.
After the devastating earthquakes on February 6 in Turkey and Syria, which were accompanied by hundreds of aftershocks and killed just over 50,000 people in the former and 8,500 in the latter, Israel has been frantically working to improve its earthquake preparedness.

The World Health Organization has called these earthquakes the worst natural disaster to hit the region in a century.

Experts have emphasized how worrying Israel’s existing level of earthquake preparedness is.

According to a report published in 2018 under the previous comptroller, a big earthquake might cause 7,000 fatalities, 8,600 serious or moderate injuries, 9,500 people trapped in structures, and 170,000 people to become homeless.

According to a report from the previous year, 600,000 buildings in the nation do not adhere to the requirements for earthquake resilience.

The Great Rift Valley, an active fault line that stretches from the Red Sea to the Jordan River along the boundary between Israel and Jordan, is where Israel is situated.

Numerous substantial risks for the region are posed by this geologic fault, including frequent mild earthquakes and sporadic, far more severe seismic occurrences.

There have been significant earthquakes in Israel for a very long time; they typically happen every 100 years or so. The area last experienced a significant earthquake in 1927.

The 6.2-magnitude earthquake that caused those casualties also injured 940 other people. Heavily damaged cities included Jerusalem, Jericho, Ramla, Tiberias, and Nablus (Shechem).