More earthquakes shake northern Israel near Sea of Galilee

JTA

A view of the Sea of Galilee. (Wikimedia Commons)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two more minor earthquakes shook northern Israel near the Sea of Galilee over the weekend.

On Sunday morning, an earthquake measuring 3.1 on the Richter Scale rattled the area. The second was on Saturday morning and had a magnitude of 3.4. The Saturday temblor was felt in cities in the vicinity of the quake, located northwest of the Sea of Galilee. There were no reports of damage or injuries.

The two earthquakes are part of a swarm of more than a dozen that began on Wednesday morning.  Most were small and noticeable, but at least four measured higher than four on the Richter Scale with some felt as far away as Jerusalem.

More than 30 temblors with a magnitude of more than 2.5 have occurred in the area since 1973, with at least 22 of them since 2000. A similar swarm of earthquakes occurred in 2013, according to the institute.

The Sea of Galilee is located on top of the Dead Sea Fault, also known as the Great Rift Valley, which runs from Africa to Turkey.