IDF names 10 cities at highest risk in major earthquake

Alongside the security threats from Iran and the various combat fronts, the IDF is intensifying preparations in recent days for another severe scenario: a catastrophic earthquake that would strike wide areas of Israel and lead to a national disaster.

Chief of Staff Rav-Aluf Eyal Zamir has set high priority in the IDF's 2027 work plan for preparing the military for an earthquake event. The decision comes from statistical and scientific understanding: the last deadly earthquake to strike the region occurred in 1927, nearly a century ago, along the Syrian-African Rift, causing hundreds of deaths, and according to research a major quake occurs in this area once every hundred years.

The defense establishment has identified ten major cities in Israel where the potential for destruction is defined as especially high, due to their proximity to the Syrian-African Rift and the prevalence of old buildings that do not meet current standards: Kiryat Shmona, Hatzor HaGlilit, Rosh Pina, Tiberias, Tzfat, Afula, Migdal HaEmek, Beit She'an, Arad and Eilat.

As part of emergency-hour orders, the IDF and the Health Ministry are launching a round of drills in hospitals across the country. The drills test the medical institutions' ability to evacuate quickly to open areas such as parking lots and sports fields, and to continue treating tens of thousands of casualties during the event itself. Today's drill was conducted by the commander of the Northern District in Home Front Command, Aluf-Mishne Paz Gadia, and was observed by the commander of Home Front Command, Aluf Shai Klapper, and senior Health Ministry officials.

Aluf-Mishne Paz Gadia noted during the drill: "The hospital needs to know how to function during the earthquake itself, and it's not just about getting people out. We're talking about a national reference scenario that the Defense Minister has defined as a readiness mission. The statistics show a window of 100 years, and we have the ability from the moment the event begins to assess the scope of damage." Gadia added that the assessment is that in the North alone there would be thousands trapped and hundreds killed, and emphasized that preparedness for this is defined as a mission parallel to military threats.