jersualem (jps) | Tourists can vacation in Eilat without tsunami worries, whereas Israel’s coastal plain is at rare risk of being hit by tidal waves caused by regional earthquakes, according to assessments presented by experts to the Knesset Interior and Environment Committee this week.
Amos Bein, director of the Geographical Survey of Israel, said an earthquake in the Jordan Rift or Mediterranean could trigger a landslide at the continental shelf along the coast, causing a large volume of sediment to move at an accelerated rate and push water. “The entire coastline of Israeli is at risk” from a development in the Mediterranean, he said.
However, Bein said the risk of a tidal wave in Eilat is negligible because of the deep waters at the shoreline that would break the impact. He noted that a 1975 earthquake caused waves in Eilat that were only about 3 feet high.
At the same time, he said the chance of tsunamis hitting Israel is much lower than the land dangers of earthquakes.
The committee convened to discuss the risks of tidal waves in Israel, following the Dec. 26 tsumani that struck southeast Asia, killing more than 150,000.
The last recorded tidal wave in Israel occurred in 1759 and caused flooding in Acre. The waves were 8 to 9 feet high, and injuries were recorded.
Bein said that Israeli monitors would learn of earthquakes in the area in time to issue a warning.