Study: Dead Sea Countries Threatened by Catastrophic Earthquakes

Researchers at Tel Aviv University said that the countries of the Dead Sea region will be threatened by a catastrophic earthquake of 6.5 degrees on the Richter scale over the next few years.

The new study, which was published in the scientific journal "Advances", overviewed the geological developments in the Sea region over 220,000 years and studied the depths of the sea.

It indicated that such earthquakes hit the region every 130 to 150 years.

The last earthquake in the region was 93 years ago, according to Israeli researchers; they expect that the next earthquake will occur soon.

The earthquake of 1927 in the Dead Sea region left hundreds of people injured and large material losses in major cities such as the Jordanian capital Amman, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Jaffa.

Professor Shmuel Mark, director of the Institute of Environmental and Earth Sciences at Tel Aviv University, said: "According to the last earthquake, which is the best indicator we have, about 250 people died in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Amman and Jericho."