Abbabbj
Yesterdays' 5.5 quake that happened 128 km west Beirut is an alarm for an approaching catastrophe because this fault line have been dormant for years, yesterdays quake is an indicator for tectonic activity along it which is very dangerous because this is the same fault line that "drowned" Lebanese coastal line several times
our government should take this seriously and take counter measures just in case(I hope nothing happen)
this is a 2006 abstract of a scientific article concerning this issue in the geology scientific magazine which indicates that this is a reality not fiction:
http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/35/8/755.abstract?sid=348f59ee-821d-4281-b9b3-4503ee8015e8
On 9 July A.D. 551, a large earthquake, followed by a tsunami, destroyed most of the coastal cities of Phoenicia (modern-day Lebanon). Tripoli is reported to have “drowned,” and Berytus (Beirut) did not recover for nearly 1300 yr afterwards. Geophysical data from the Shalimar survey unveil the source of this event, which may have had a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.5 and was arguably one of the most devastating historical submarine earthquakes in the eastern Mediterranean: rupture of the offshore, hitherto unknown, ∼100–150-km-long active, east-dipping Mount Lebanon thrust. Deep-towed sonar swaths along the base of prominent bathymetric escarpments reveal fresh, west-facing seismic scarps that cut the sediment-smoothed seafloor. The Mount Lebanon thrust trace comes closest (∼8 km) to the coast between Beirut and Enfeh, where, as 13 14C-calibrated ages indicate, a shoreline-fringing vermetid bench suddenly emerged by ∼80 cm in the sixth century A.D. At Tabarja, the regular vertical separation (∼1 m) of higher fossil benches suggests uplift by three more earthquakes of comparable size since the Holocene sea level reached a maximum ca. 7–6 ka, implying a 1500-1750 yr recurrence time. Unabated thrusting on the Mount Lebanon thrust likely drove the growth of Mount Lebanon since the late Miocene.
samer
Here's the wikipedia article about the
551 Beirut earthquake.
Metalloy
i live in a beach resort all year long, i will be the first one to witness it if it ever happens, goodbye lebgeeks, it was a nice ride with you.
Beej
Cmon guys!!! You really think drowning and tsunami is what we should be worrying about?
No, and here's why, 551 AD didnt have buidings and roadblocks and whatever. All of these will block the momentum of the wave, thus will not reach high places. Sure i live in beirut and it will hit me, BUT... We will not drown :D.
We will die from the debris first :D. I was talking about that subject yesterday with my moms. She was afraid of the tsunami, i toldher mom cmon waves cannot reach us, we will suffocate to death and be crushed long before we drown :D. I was sooo soothing yesterday.
Codename47
As a geologist the worst thing you should fear off is whenever there is a long period of non tectonic activity since this will indicate that the stress is piling up and soon will trigger a huge earthquake, whenever small earthquakes take place this is very good since this will prevent stress from piling.
Metalloy
Beej, now this is a releif!
Codename 47, i am not a geologist but if i'm not mistaken huge earthquakes usually comes after smaller ones, since those smaller ones are moving the earths plates to a more critical point (please correct me if i'm wrong) and also more then 1500 years of stress piling up wont get releived by a small earthquake like yesterday's quake right?
Beej
@Codename47: Since you are a geologist, what do you think of the infrastructure her ein lebanon? And the buildings too? Are they ready for a strong earthquake?
The real question is this: Would we drown 1st? Or be crushed 1st?
Abbabbj
@Beej: crushed for sure
@Codename47: you are right only if we are having continuous earth quakes on an active fault line but as far as I know this fault line have been dormant for many years-by the way I am a biologist but I've covered all basic geology in my undergraduate studies- and I really hope you're right
What we really need is precaution and readiness at anytime for mass emergency
MrClass
Abbabbj wroteWhat we really need is precaution and readiness at anytime for mass emergency
How can we ready for such natural disaster if we still lag behind with basic life necessities? (Electricity, Fuel, Food...)
We're simply fucked.
Beej
Disaster 101:
Build shelter, hell we cant even rent a freggin apartment/store let alone buy a land and build a shelter.
Supplies: Bread is too expencive/900gs of bread does nothing. Water is contaminated, and food is already expired. If somehow we survive the flodd and quake, we will die with food/water poisoning.
Electricity: We need it and dont have it, we pay 50$+ for those 3 hrs of blackout and we cant aford it. Let alone the fuel to turn them on.
Even if we want to go to higher places to avoid water, our car tanks are empty.
monkey-d-luffy
enthralled
Metalloy
@ Monkey D luffy, nice XD
rtp
@ Monkey D luffy hahahah thanks for the laugh! :D
Shatilov
I think we are about to see some major changes in our country, geographically speaking.
It will never be the same again. And it is clear enough that this small earthquake is an introduction to a much larger one that will hit us soon this year or the next one.
I actually have prepared myself for this time since 2008, and I've been waiting for it to see how it will effect us and our way of living in this country.
I live in Ras Beirut directly near the sea, and I know that we will be hit 1st. There is nothing we can do about it. Yet I'm still watching and anticipating it.
Nothing to loose.
Abbabbj
personal measures taken:
checking the fire extinguisher
checking first aid kit
fixed all loose parts on the ceiling and shelves
moved all glassware from shelves
checked closets for any instability
xazbrat
It was a small earthquake over 100km away in a moderately prone area of the world--move on, nothing anyone can do about it. Earthquakes happen all the time in this region and that is what gives Lebanon and the rest of the Mediterranean its scenic beauty. As for tsunamis, we are lucky here in that Cyprus shelters us from most potential tsunami causing areas around the Aegean and S. European coasts. In any case, unlike the islands in the Pacific, we can get to higher ground relatively quickly even those on the coast.
We already have enough stuff to worry about--remote stuff like if a tsunami strikes this area shouldn't be one of the them.
devilsadvocate
i hope not,honestly i enjoy my life
Rubz
It will come sooner or later, later I hope. Although it would be an utter tragedy in terms of human and economic loss; yet i feel it may spark something new in our shattered community, a hope that it will make us all stick togethar. Every thing has failed so far, maybe when we all suffer this collausal tradgedy, this common devestation , that we would finaly forget our differences, and build ourselves a better place, togethar.
shant
its too early! i haven't played diablo 3 yet! NOOO!
well, i guess id be one of the first to drown, better prepare a working pc on a boat, just in case i don't complete diablo 3 by then
