An investigation into an earthquake alert in dozens of communities in northern Israel last year that was erroneously triggered by the Israel Defense Forces’ demolition of a massive Hezbollah weapons tunnel in South Lebanon has led to new procedures being put in place.
The new protocol includes the IDF reporting to the Israel Geological Survey in advance of planned tunnel demolitions.
Hundreds of thousands of residents in dozens of communities were awakened in panic by the earthquake alerts last October, further rattling nerves already on edge due to war.
“The event illustrated the special challenges of the State of Israel, in a security environment where unusual premeditated explosions occur from time to time, such as those currently being carried out by the IDF in various sectors,” said Ittai Kurzon, director of the seismology division at the Geological Survey.
“This uniqueness also requires preparation for unusual operational scenarios. We learned and drew lessons from the event and have already been able to apply them to similar events, so that false alarms were not spread,” he said.
The demolition of the Hezbollah tunnel in October was carried out using some 370 tons of explosives and was felt nationwide.
The seismic monitoring system, codenamed “T’ruah” after one of these sounds of the shofar, was activated for the first time by the explosion.
