A 3.3-magnitude earthquake was felt in Israel about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of the West Bank city of Ariel, the Israel Geological Survey said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of shocks of different degrees of severity to hit the region in recent days.
Residents reported feeling the tremor from Tel Aviv, Kfar Saba, Ra'anana, Arad, Kedomim, Rosh HaAyin and Ariel.
"I was lying in bed when I felt it shaking. I immediately knew it was an earthquake even though the person I was with at home didn't feel it," Nimrod from Tel Aviv told Ynet.
Yuval Kamin and his wife Shira from Kfar Saba were in the kitchen of their apartment when the temblor hit.
"We were having coffee when my wife said she felt dizzy and that it was probably an earthquake. I said she was imagining like last night," Yuval said.
"Last night, she said she got dizzy and it turned out she was right and there in fact was an earthquake. She said the chair in the kitchen started moving during the quake.
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Seismic waves are seen on a screen during a demonstration of a new earthquake early warning system which triggers sirens if a nationwide network of 120 seismic monitoring stations detects a strong earthquake, at the Geological Survey of Israel in Jerusalem, February 7, 2022
(Photo: Reuters)
We have a fake plant in the living room and I saw the leaves start to shake. At first, I didn't believe it was an earthquake. I checked on Ynet and saw that there was indeed an earthquake. I'm not that nervous, unlike my wife. But everything is fine now".
This latest tremor comes a day after a 4.4-magnitude originating below the Dead Sea was felt in several cities across Israel including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Kfar Saba, and Rehovot. No injuries or damages were reported as a result of the tremor.
Fears of a major earthquake have been ramping up in Israel in recent days after two major shocks devastated parts of Türkiye and Syria this week, killing thousands. Both shocks were also felt in Israel.
Israel is located on the Great Rift Valley, which runs the entirety of the country's border with Jordan, and is considered "disaster-prone", raising grave concerns in the Jewish state.
Meanwhile, Jerusalem District Fire and Rescue Services postpone an earthquake rescue drill in Ma'ale Adumim due to inclement weather conditions.
As part of the exercise, rescuers were supposed to simulate the extraction of survivors from a collapsed building.