Israel: $10 billion needed to prepare the country for earthquake

Geologists predict that it would take $10 billion dollars for Israel to sufficiently prepare for a potential future earthquake, which would include strengthening thousands of decades-old buildings.

The Jewish state is expecting to be hit by a major quake in the coming years, and many are concerned of its ability to withstand such a disaster as many buildings and homes built before 1980 have not been reinforced.

Israel sits on the Syrian-African Rift, with the Dead Sea Rift being its primary source of seismic activity. Although it’s currently impossible to predict exactly when and where the next quake will occur, such an event has occurred once a century on average in the country.

The last major earthquake occurred in 1927, leaving nearly 300 people dead and causing extensive damage in Jerusalem, Jericho, and other cities. 

Last year, Israel's Home Front Command army unit warned that a strong earthquake expected sometime in the future will leave thousands dead and injured.

"It will happen somewhere between Eilat and Metula on the Dead Sea Rift or on the Carmel Rift," Dr. Ittai Kurzon, a seismologist with the Geological Survey of Israel, has predicted.

In September 2022, the first meeting of Israel's inter-ministerial team dedicated to preparing long-term reconstruction plans after an earthquake was held.

But Amir Yahav, the director of the Earthquake Preparedness Committee, recently warned a parliamentary committee that damage from an earthquake would cost the country $41 billion, and that prevention would be a significantly cheaper alternative.

Last month, several low-intensity earthquakes shook Israel following the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria.