Breaking: Moderate Earthquake Rattles Syria and Lebanon

A 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck central Syria late on Monday, with tremors also felt in neighboring Lebanon, according to official media sources from both countries.

Journalists from AFP in both Beirut and Damascus reported feeling the quake. In Beirut, residents quickly took to the streets, worried that a more powerful earthquake might follow, potentially causing buildings to collapse. This added to the already tense atmosphere in Lebanon, where fears are high of an escalation in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israeli forces that could plunge the country into full-scale war.

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, quoting Raed Ahmed, the head of the National Earthquake Center, reported, “An earthquake of 5.5 on the Richter scale struck east of Hama city at 11:56 pm.” The United States Geological Survey, however, measured the quake at a magnitude of 5.0.

Lebanon’s National News Agency confirmed that “some residents of Beirut” and other areas felt a mild earthquake at the same time.

This tremor comes in the wake of a catastrophic 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit on February 6, 2023, killing nearly 60,000 people across Turkey and Syria. In Syria alone, over 1,400 people were killed in government-controlled regions, while more than 4,500 died in areas held by opposition forces in the northwest.

In northern Syria, where many areas are under Turkish control, residents, still haunted by last year’s deadly earthquake, fled their homes in panic when the latest quake struck, an AFP correspondent reported.

Roba, a 35-year-old accountant from Damascus who chose not to reveal her last name, shared how this recent quake brought back distressing memories of the previous disaster. “We panicked and rushed out of the building,” she said. “I feared a repeat of last year’s earthquake, where entire buildings collapsed on sleeping people.” Roba added that she and her family now lack the courage to return to their home on the 11th floor.

Hama Health Director Maher Younes told Sham FM radio station that 25 people sustained “minor and moderate injuries” as they tried to escape in a panic during the tremor.