13 February 2008

SIDON: A moderate earthquake rattled South Lebanon on Tuesday, causing some panic among local residents but no major damage, the meteorological department said.

The quake, which shook the Southern port cities of Sidon and Tyre and surrounding villages, registered up to 4.2 on the Richter scale.

Some residents in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and neighboring Syria and Israel, also felt the earthquake.

"I live in downtown Sidon, and knowing that the buildings there are old and not so well maintained, my family and I panicked a lot," said Ahmad Wehbeh, the owner of a coffee shop in Sidon.

Lebanon was hit by a devastating quake in 1958 which left dozens killed.

"I couldn't go back to sleep after the quake ...  I was terrified," said Abu Mohammad Batsh, another Sidon resident.

The Lebanese Bhannes Center for Seismic and Scientific Research said the quake struck at 1:47 a.m. local time, and its epicenter was located about 6 kilometers east of Tyre.

The state-run National News Agency said it lasted several seconds and sent panicked residents to the streets.

The quake caused some cracks in the foundations of a few buildings in Tyre and shattered some windows, the agency said. There were no reports of casualties.

The last earthquake of such magnitude to strike the country took place in 2001 with its epicenter in the Bekaa region of eastern Lebanon and was also felt in Beirut.

Sari Halwani, whose balcony was damaged, said the quake left the coastal city of Tyre in shock.

"The electricity went off all of a sudden and the building started shaking," Halwani said, "My family and I woke up totally frightened and we hid under our beds."

In Syria, the state-run news agency quoted the director of the National Earthquakes Center as saying that an earthquake registering up to 3.7 on the Richter scale and centered in South Lebanon was felt by some residents in Damascus.

Rami Hofstetter, director of the Geophysical Institute of Israel, said that the tremor also was felt in Israel as far south as the suburbs of Tel Aviv. No injuries or damage were reported. Hofstetter said the quake was along the Roum Fault, which connects with the larger Syrian-African Rift. - With agencies

Copyright The Daily Star 2008.