Northern Israel gently shaken by Lebanon tremor

Earthquake measuring 4.4 on Richter scale felt along Israeli, Syrian borders

Mount Arbel, with the Sea of Galilee in the background, northern Israel. (photo credit: Yaakov Naumi/Flash90)
Mount Arbel, with the Sea of Galilee in the background, northern Israel. (photo credit: Yaakov Naumi/Flash90)

An earthquake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale was felt in northern Israel late Saturday.

Residents in the towns of Afula, Safed and Kiryat Shemona felt a gentle shake.

The temblor’s epicenter was located in Lebanon, north of Beirut, according to Israel’s Geophysical Institute, the Hebrew-language news site Ynet reported.

There were no reports of injuries or damage from the quake.

A 4.1-magnitude tremor was felt in many Israeli cities in late May.

In December, a magnitude-6 earthquake struck in the Mediterranean Sea south of the Turkish province of Antalya and was felt in the northern coastal city of Haifa.

Israel is located on the Dead Sea rift, a tectonic meeting-point of the African and Arabian plates. The rift is famous for generating powerful earthquakes roughly once per century. The 1927 Jericho earthquake heavily damaged cities throughout the country, from Safed to Jerusalem, causing an estimated 500 deaths.

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