What happened is the beginning of a series of Seismic Activities and People must take extreme caution!
The head of the National Research Council at the Center for Bahnas Mouin Hamza Confirmed that Lebanon has seen since the middle of the night and until this morning, 6 earthquakes, including one of 4.1 degrees shakes and other aftershocks, pointing out that what happened was the beginning of the frenzy began seismic diminished since midnight.
Later, Hamza said in a press conference that there’s no ability for any seismic monitoring center to predict the occurrence of earthquakes, but could identify and study the activity of these earthquakes.
Hamza called on citizens to take extreme caution, especially in cracked houses and get a minimum of equipment for protection in case of an earthquake, pointing out that the seismic event may result in less or in frequencies similar to the first earthquake (4.1).
Hamza explained that he informed the Prime Minister, Interior Minister and civil defense to take care in these couple of days.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF DURING AN EARTHQUAKE…
Your past experience in earthquakes may give you a false sense of safety; you didn’t do anything, or you ran outside, yet you survived with no injuries. Or perhaps you got under your desk and others thought you overreacted. However, you likely have never experienced the kind of strong earthquake shaking that is possible in much larger earthquakes: sudden and intense back and forth motions of several feet per second will cause the floor or the ground to jerk sideways out from under you, and every unsecured object around you could topple, fall, or become airborne, potentially causing serious injury. This is why you must learn to immediately protect yourself after the first jolt… don’t wait to see if the earthquake shaking will be strong!
In MOST situations, you will reduce your chance of injury if you:
- DROP down onto your hands and knees (before the earthquakes knocks you down). This position protects you from falling but allows you to still move if necessary.
- COVER your head and neck (and your entire body if possible) under a sturdy table or desk. If there is no shelter nearby, only then should you get down near an interior wall (or next to low-lying furniture that won’t fall on you), and cover your head and neck with your arms and hands.
- HOLD ON to your shelter (or to your head and neck) until the shaking stops. Be prepared to move with your shelter if the shaking shifts it around.
Wherever you are, protect yourself! You may be in situation where you cannot find shelter beneath furniture (or low against a wall, with your arms covering your head and neck). It is important to think about what you will do to protect yourself wherever you are.
DO NOT !
DO NOT run outside or to other rooms during shaking: The area near the exterior walls of a building is the most dangerous place to be. Windows, facades and architectural details are often the first parts of the building to collapse. To stay away from this danger zone, stay inside if you are inside and outside if you are outside. Also, shaking can be so strong that you will not be able to move far without falling down, and objects may fall or be thrown at you that you do not expect. Injuries can be avoided if you drop to the ground before the earthquake drops you.
DO NOT stand in a doorway: An enduring earthquake image of California is a collapsed adobe home with the door frame as the only standing part. From this came our belief that a doorway is the safest place to be during an earthquake. True- if you live in an old, unreinforced adobe house or some older woodframe houses. In modern houses, doorways are no stronger than any other part of the house, and the doorway does not protect you from the most likely source of injury- falling or flying objects. You also may not be able to brace yourself in the door during strong shaking. You are safer under a table.
DO NOT get in the “triangle of life”: In recent years, an e-mail has been circulating which describes an alternative to the long-established “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” advice. The so-called “triangle of life” and some of the other actions recommended in the e-mail are potentially life threatening, and the credibility of the source of these recommendations has been broadly questioned!
— Original Post —
Lebanon: A mild earthquake measuring 4.0 on Richter Scale that occurred just after midnight Saturday lasted about 10 seconds and shook several areas in Lebanon, including the capital, Beirut, local media reported .
The tremor was mainly felt in Iklim el-Kharoub, Chouf, Sidon, and Jezzine areas in southern Lebanon, Annahar news website reported.
The European Mediterranean Seismological Center said the epicenter of the quake was at sea, 47 km southwest of Beirut.
There was no report of damage or casualties in Lebanon.
Some reports indicated that the tremor was also felt in northern Israel, Damascus and Syrian coastal area.
The National Centre for Geophysical Research of Bhannes said the initial tremor was followed by another of 3.6 magnitude at around 1:25 am Sunday .
According to Lebanon’s state-run Bhannes Center for Seismic and Scientific Research, over 600 earthquakes with magnitudes below 3 hit Lebanon each year.
The last major quake to hit Lebanon in modern times occurred on March 16 , 1956 .Its epicenter was located in the Chouf District of Mt Lebanon . It killed 136 people destroyed Six thousand homes and damaged another 17,000 .
Elie Chahine 
