Residents sit in front of a building partially damaged by an earthquake in Nahr al-Bared, northern Lebanon, on Feb. 6, 2023. (Credit: Michel Hallak/ L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — The National Center for Geophysics in Bhannes, affiliated with the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), reported Monday that it registered a 2.6-magnitude tremor on the Richter scale at 12:59 p.m. local time today, centered in Khiam (Marjayoun district)
Several seismic episodes have occurred in recent weeks. On Jan. 18, a magnitude-3.5 tremor on the Richter scale occurred off the coast of North Lebanon. A week before, in the night of Jan. 10 to 11, a series of minor tremors were felt by residents for about ten seconds. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, this was a 4.1-magnitude earthquake with an epicenter about 60 kilometers off the capital's coast, at a depth of roughly ten kilometers.
In an interview with the press, Marlene Brax, director of the National Center for Geophysics, explained that such events are part of the natural seismic movement in the eastern Mediterranean, stressing that "there is currently no cause for concern."
Lebanon is traversed by the Yammouneh fault, running nearly 200 kilometers under Mount Lebanon. It is part of the larger Levant fault, which extends from southern Turkey to the Red Sea.
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