The Middle East region lived through a dark and dark night as a result of the devastating earthquake that struck southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border, and resulted in hundreds of casualties in Turkey and Syria. An earthquake measuring 7.8 degrees at a depth of 17.9 kilometers near the Turkish city of Gaziantep.
The earthquake, which is considered the strongest in decades, the information received spoke of 78 aftershocks that followed it, and Lebanon had a share as a result of an earthquake that occurred in the sea between Cyprus and Cyprus, measuring 4.8 degrees on the Richter scale and felt by the residents of Lebanon, in addition to some aftershocks of less intensity. .
Horror moments
As if what the Lebanese are going through is not enough to add to his misfortunes the calamity of an earthquake that most of the population felt. As a result of panic, people took to the streets, not knowing what really happened… Sami recounts the moments of terror that he and his family experienced while he lived on the ninth floor of a building, and points out Until the “building” danced with us and we did not know if it was only an earthquake, because its duration was long and the fear was that an earthquake would occur. From here we rushed to a place where there are no surrounding buildings in the area despite the very cold and rainy weather.
Orient fault
The moments of terror experienced by Sami and the Lebanese are over, but what if the earthquake recurs again? Here, the director of the National Center for Geophysics, Dr. Marilyn Brax, states through the “bulletin” that “what struck Turkey occurred 350 km from the country and at a fault that passes through Lebanon and extends from the Red Sea to Turkey and is called the Levant fault. The area where the earthquake fractured is in Turkey.” And if it broke in a place closer to us, its effects on Lebanon would be much greater.”
The Levant moved with such force for the last time in the year 1202. This is confirmed by Brax, explaining that “historically, it was hit by devastating tremors, and we expected such a large tremor or earthquake to occur, but we do not know when it would happen,” pointing out that “after the fault broke in Turkey and the earthquake occurred there, we will feel in Lebanon aftershocks, and they will remain in In the coming days, however, its pace will decrease, and it will certainly not be as big as what we felt at dawn today.”
In his turn, the expert in disaster management, Gebran Qaraouni, stresses through the “bulletin” the need for municipalities to take certain measures by inspecting buildings to ensure their safety, which could have been affected or cracked as a result of the earthquake, adding: “Prevention in these times is necessary first for those who have children or Elderly people should also stay away from cupboards, and if they are in bed, the head should be covered with a pillow.”
Precautionary instructions
As for the instructions, Qaraouni points out that “it is necessary to resort to locking the gas bottles in the house immediately, and if it takes a long time, the electricity must be disconnected from the house because this may lead to electrical friction that may develop into a fire. At the same time, candles must not be lit.” Just use a flashlight.”
Qaraouni also points out that “it is necessary to hide under the table, in the stairwell, or in the corners of the strong columns in the building, and the most important thing is to stay away from the glass facades, which can shatter and inevitably lead to damage and loss of life.”
The earthquake that struck Turkey was followed by aftershocks that were felt by the residents of Lebanon, and the researcher at the Research Institute for Observing Geometry between Celestial Bodies Related to Seismic Activity, Frank Hogrebits, had indicated on his social media page on the third of last February, that sooner or later an earthquake would occur. With a magnitude of 7.5 degrees Celsius in this region (south-central Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon), explaining that “aftershocks continue for a period of time after a major earthquake.”
