In Quake-Prone Israel, Public Is Advised to Take Cover, This Time Outside

By ISABEL KERSHNER Published: October 24, 2013

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JERUSALEM For years, Israel has worked to educate its citizens to rush off the streets and take cover inside buildings during rocket attacks. But this week, the Home Front Command, the military department responsible for civil defense in times of war or national emergency, began a new public awareness campaign instructing people to run outdoors.

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Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines. Twitter List: Reporters and Editors That is because the safety campaign, advising the public to seek open ground, was prompted by a different threat: a swarm of minor earthquakes. The tremors, six in the last week, have been a reminder that Israel is due for a big earthquake, which would require the opposite response from a population trained to take shelter when rockets fall. Public service announcements on Israeli television, radio and news sites and in the newspapers advise people during an earthquake to get out of buildings within a few seconds if they can. To confuse matters, those unable to leave that quickly are advised to

go where they would during a rocket attack: their fortified safe room, if they have one, or a stairwell. Within a week, five tremors were felt in the area of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel and one in Eilat to the south, all with magnitudes of 3 to 3.6. Another five earthquakes were recorded during the same period but were too slight to be felt. No injuries or significant damage was reported. Israel, which sits along the Syrian-African rift, an active fault, is no stranger to minor earthquakes. But people worry that the increased seismic activity could be a harbinger of a bigger temblor in an area that has a history of a major quake roughly every hundred years. In 1927, a 6.2-magnitude quake with an epicenter north of the Dead Sea killed hundreds. In 1995, a quake with a magnitude of 7.2 struck farther south in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. Several people were killed and some buildings were destroyed, but the devastation was limited because the area affected was largely desert. Experts said it was impossible to interpret what the latest quakes meant or to predict when a more powerful one might occur. There is no reason for immediate concern, said Prof. Amotz Agnon of the Earth Sciences Institute at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. But the earthquake swarm, he said, is a reminder that we are heading for a big earthquake. We are always heading for one, and the more time passes the closer we get, he added. In Parliament on Wednesday, Gilad Erdan, the minister of Home Front Defense, said up to 7,000 Israelis could die in a major earthquake. He said a drill was planned for next month to test how the countrys airport and a main port would handle large deliveries of international assistance. Later, Mr. Erdan said he had not meant to scare people and was just answering a parliamentary question about Israels preparedness for a large quake. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also discussed preparedness with various ministers and experts in Parliament this week. He called for additional drills in schools and for public instructions to be updated, according to a statement from his office. Experts say Israel is not well prepared for a major earthquake. Thousands of buildings constructed before 1980 were not built to withstand earthquakes and are in danger of collapse. Professor Agnon said that money was set aside to strengthen public buildings, including schools and hospitals, but that nothing has been done. At least, depending on the nature of the threat, Israelis should know which way to run.