Though it is said that earthquakes cannot be predicted, but scientists have warned of a major tremor in Middle East. According to a team of researchers, the A.D. 551 earthquake that devastated Lebanon is likely to strike again.
Earthquakes in the region occur as a result of the African Rift Valley, which extends from Lebanon in the north in Middle East to Mozambique in the south in Africa. Rift valley is the result of normal fault in which two tectonic plates moving away from each other, forcing the upliftment of one of the two plates.
The Great Rift Valley is also the result of the African plate diverging from the India-Austral plates, as a result of tensional forces beneath, giving rise to earthquakes. An earthquake struck Lebanon in A.D. 551 destroying everything from terrestrial to marine creatures. The tremor was so severe that it resulted in a tsunami, drowning major coastal cities from Tripoli to Tyr to Berytus (Beirut). If a similar disaster were to hit today, it will totally brush away the coastal areas.
Scientists surveying the undersea faults of the Mediterranean Sea through radio waves have warned that the fault that triggered the A.D. 551 earthquake is due any moment. It is surmised that the fault moves every 1500 years. Research says that around four disastrous earthquakes alike the A.D. 551 quake have hit the region within a span of six to seven thousand years hence.
Scientific predictions put 70 percent of the Lebanese population under risk. Being a coastal country, Lebanon’s entire infrastructure from highways to airports,from high rise buildings to ordinary homes, from electrical power stations to economic centers is all next to the sea, therefore awaiting disaster. The region is in dire need of a disaster management program. A tsunami warning system is the requirement of the day.
This is the lull before the storm, as impending disaster looms large over the region surrounding Mediterranean.
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Via: National Geographic