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The hole on the Temple Mount plaza caused Friday by a 5.3-magnitude earthquake. (Islamic Movement)
Last update - 21:21 16/02/2008
Recent tremors raise fears of potentially destructive earthquake
By Zafrir Rinat and Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and AP
Tags: Lebanon, earthquake, Syria 

The National Infrastructures Ministry said in a statement following Friday's 5.3-magnitude earthquake that the most recent tremors have increased fears about the possibility of a destructive earthquake taking place here.

The earthquake shook Israel early Friday afternoon and was felt mostly in the Coastal Plain. A 4.1-magnitude earthquake was felt earlier this week in parts of Israel.

Magen David Adom emergency medical services said that no injuries were reported.
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Friday's earthquake shook open a large hole on the Temple Mount plaza, near the Dome of the Rock.

Al-Aqsa mosque officials belonging to the Islamic Movement's Northern Branch covered the hole with wooden planks following afternoon prayers.

The officials, who also said the quake caused cracks in several local residential buildings, said the hole was a meter deep, two meters long and meter and a half wide.

The Islamic Movement blamed Israel for the hole, saying Israel is digging tunnels in the area that undermine the stability in the area of the Al-Aqsa mosque. The organization urged Islamic states to take action to stop Israeli excavations in the area.

Epicenter northeast of Lebanese city of Tyre
A Tel Aviv resident, living on the second floor, said: "We felt the earth move. The bed was rocking, the doors were moving, and the chandeliers were swinging."

In the West Bank, An old house fell onto the main road in Kofin village west of Nablus, blocking it but not hurting anyone.

The earthquake also shook Lebanon and Syria.

Residents in some areas of Beirut left their apartments and went into the street after the first jolt shortly after midday, which lasted a few seconds.

Five people were lightly injured in southern Lebanon, according to police.

Residents of Damascus, the Syrian capital about a 2-hour drive away, reported feeling the quake as well.

The quake's epicenter was 15 kilometers northeast of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre.

Local television stations reported the main force of the quake hit southern Lebanon where it damaged houses in two villages.

Two small quakes shook Lebanon on Thursday night, according to the local media.

Earlier this month, the education ministry reported that 45 percent of the schools and the kindergartens in Israel would face serious danger in the case of a strong earthquake.

During the Knesset discussion on earthquake precautions held in January, a representative of Israel's fire department said that in the case of a serious earthquake, only 29 firefighters would be available in Jerusalem to handle a situation in which, according to forecasts, hundreds of houses will collapse and thousands will be killed.

A 2005 forecast maintains that if an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale were to hit Beit She'an, 16,000 people would be killed, 90,000 people would be hurt and 400,000 would become homeless. 130,000 buildings will collapse or suffer extensive damage.

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      1.   It was a Zionist-Hezbollah plot 13:47  |  Yonatan 15/02/08
      2.   I suppose... 13:48  |  EJ 15/02/08
      3.   Clickfool: It`s the Mossad 13:54  |  MR 15/02/08
      4.   Stop me If you can . 14:02  |  shery.muslima 15/02/08
      5.   Israel Did It ! 14:03  |  Phil 15/02/08
      6.   Earthquake-A warning from GOD 14:31  |  Brod 15/02/08
      7.   earthquake 14:42  |  RS 15/02/08
      8.   Earthquakes 15:26  |  Pal girl 15/02/08
      9.   Unite, Arabs and Jews 15:33  |  A Semite 15/02/08
      10.   NASRALLAH FORE WARNED 15:39  |  NAJI BENAJI 15/02/08
      11.   Earthquake shakes You and Your allies in beirut . 15:57  |  shery.muslima 15/02/08
      12.   A Semite is an Anti-Semite 16:15  |  Steven 15/02/08
      13.   Obviously a Zionist-Hezbollah plot 16:18  |  Yonatan 15/02/08
      14.   Mossad must have caused eathquake to damage Hezbollah. 16:19  |  isnt it obvious 15/02/08
      15.   G-D SHOOK TERRORISTS!!! 16:55  |  Dodi Berg 15/02/08
      16.   Nasralla did it !! 18:07  |  Ready 15/02/08
      17.   Sure Yonatan 19:07  |  Jimmie 15/02/08
      18.   It wasn`t an earthquake 19:36  |  Peter North 15/02/08
      19.   Israelis lack e`quake preparedness training/kits 20:07  |  Californian 15/02/08
      20.   Are all new Israeli buildings up to latest e`quake safety code? 20:12  |  Lobby your MK! 15/02/08
      21.   Making Israel (and PA, Jordan) more Earthquake safe 20:22  |  Need new regulations 15/02/08
      22.   Israel testing next generation of nuclear weapons 20:33  |  Paul Wood 15/02/08
      23.   #9 20:39  |  shery.muslima 15/02/08
      24.   MUSLIMS: HEED GOD`S WARNING 21:10  |  Christian Crusader 15/02/08
      25.   #11 Jimmie 22:11  |  Yonatan 15/02/08
      26.   LOL, I thought they blamed the earthquake on Israel 23:11  |  Israeli 15/02/08
      27.   It is all the Jews Fault 23:14  |  Jabotinsky 15/02/08
      28.   Islamic Movement blames Israel for quake-induced hole 23:22  |  Jeff 15/02/08
      29.   Islamic Movement blames Israel 23:33  |  Jeff 15/02/08
      30.   You mean Mother Nature is not Moslem ??????? 23:44  |  Avrum 15/02/08
      31.   Israel Gov`t Remain Silent and Does Nothing in The Face Of 23:58  |  Joseph . E 15/02/08
      32.   A Semite (#2) is right 00:05  |  Mike 16/02/08
      33.   ISLAM BLAMES JEWS FOR WORLD!!! 00:13  |  Brant 16/02/08
      34.   Lunatics excited by earthquake 00:46  |  Mark Lincoln 16/02/08
      35.   Cynical Israel denied blame 00:52  |  Clickfool 16/02/08
      36.   *JEFF - TEMPLE MOUNT 00:55  |  Bill 16/02/08
      37.   Paul Wood #15 01:03  |  Mike 16/02/08
      38.   Jabotinsky! tasteless tomatoe??? 01:16  |  akiva (zionist) 16/02/08
      39.   A satellite is falling next week 01:17  |  Tommy 16/02/08
      40.   Jeff of Three Rivers @#21 01:18  |  akiva (zionist) 16/02/08
      41.   Just a matter of time... 01:43  |  Maureen Ann 16/02/08
      42.   Clickfool #24 01:45  |  BRL 16/02/08
      43.   It Was Bugs Bunny Diggging a Tunnel to Escape 01:58  |  Eli 16/02/08
      44.   Bill, it is Zechariah 6 not 8: 12,13 02:26  |  Figaro 16/02/08
      45.   Bill is right as well 02:27  |  Jeff 16/02/08
      46.   Wow, Israel is super powerful: she caused an eathquake 02:28  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 16/02/08
      47.   Since the work of Charles Warren 02:32  |  Mark Lincoln 16/02/08
      48.   The Waqf has been playing mole for years 02:43  |  * BEN JABO 16/02/08
      49.   #12 Californian 02:50  |  * BEN JABO 16/02/08
      50.   About clickfool postings 02:52  |  Simon the J 16/02/08
      51.   #27 Maureen Ann - grabbing at straws 02:54  |  * BEN JABO 16/02/08
      52.   #24 Clickfoo - you really are!! 02:58  |  * BEN JABO 16/02/08
      53.   27 Iran is more prone to earthquakes, itsUranium will spread wide 02:58  |  I 16/02/08
      54.   Dome of The Rock** BRACE YOURSELVES 03:22  |  Gary Pineda 16/02/08
      55.   *29 FIGARO CORRECT REFERENCE: ZECH 6: 12,13 04:11  |  Bill 16/02/08
      56.   Islamic movement blames Israel for: 04:28  |  Al 16/02/08
      57.   Earthquake 04:35  |  G.L. 16/02/08
      58.   Arabs are digging out underneath the plaza 04:48  |  Nechama 16/02/08
      59.   Real Islam on the Zionist entity... 05:06  |  Joseph . E 16/02/08
      60.   Another voice of truth and logic in the area of Arab-Jewish 05:10  |  Joseph . E 16/02/08
      61.   G.L. I cannot fing JC at that reference in the original text! 05:34  |  Figaro 16/02/08
      62.   #37 Ben Jabo. Huff and Puff all you like... 05:51  |  Maureen Ann 16/02/08
      63.   Poor security in hell 06:30  |  Miche Norman 16/02/08
      64.   One day the BIG ONE will hit 06:35  |  Al Mathes 16/02/08
      65.   just watch us. wait and see whats next. get ready for the big one 06:40  |  ralph 16/02/08
      66.   yes # 7 i can. god did it 06:56  |  ralph 16/02/08
      67.   jimmie 07:26  |  danny 16/02/08
      68.   #13 californian its news to me i have lived 08:19  |  v hardman 16/02/08
      69.   For Clickfool 09:12  |  Reuven 16/02/08
      70.   #68 Victor, the front pages of the telephone book... 09:21  |  MaryRose 16/02/08
      71.