The saying applies to the Lebanese: "Do not shake him while standing on his hair." As soon as the ground trembles beneath his feet, or he imagines it, or if it happens at a distance of a thousand kilometers or more, the Richter scale is disrupted, and he panics before the disaster occurs. In short, a tremor struck the Mediterranean Sea yesterday, west of the Greek island of Crete, with a magnitude of 5.4 degrees, activating the Lebanese observatory before the scientific observatories, and eyes turned towards the sea with many questions: When will we see the tsunami?
In this context, geologist Tony Nemer clarified: "After every tweet from me, there are those who insist on interpreting it negatively. Please read all my tweets with a positive mindset. The tremor in Greece is over, and its impact is confined to its location. The earthquake of 365 had its effect on Lebanon only through the tsunami, which was in the eastern Mediterranean weaker than in other countries."
He continued: "There is no relationship between the tectonic movement on the Hellenic arc and the tectonic movement in the eastern Mediterranean. The shore is where the sea meets the land, and any elevation over 15 meters above sea level is, in principle, safe from the tsunami's impact in the eastern Mediterranean."
Nemer pointed out: "I have nothing to hide at all, and when I say that no one can predict earthquakes, this certainly applies to me. The movement on the Cypriot arc is independent of the Hellenic arc, and as I mentioned earlier, I am monitoring the movement on the Cypriot arc as part of my usual work, not from a stance of exceptional concern."
He clarified that: "The earthquake that occurred west of the Greek island of Crete with a magnitude of 5.4 is about 1230 km away from Beirut. The epicenter of this quake (the yellow star) lies within the Hellenic Arc, one of the largest geological structures in the Mediterranean. There is no relationship between this quake and what happened in Turkey on February 6. However, it is noteworthy that in the year 365 AD, an earthquake occurred on the Hellenic arc south of Crete with a magnitude of 8.3 degrees, one of the strongest earthquakes in the region's history, followed by massive tsunamis on the shores of many Mediterranean countries."
He concluded: "This information comes within the context of raising awareness about our geological reality around the Mediterranean, and it is certainly not meant to incite fear. Again, when we feel or know of an earthquake occurring, we should immediately move away from the shore as a precaution until the situation is clarified."
