Villagers in south Lebanon camp outdoors amid quake fears

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

SRIFA, Lebanon (AFP) — Hundreds of residents of the south Lebanon village of Srifa have been camping out at night amid fears that a major earthquake will hit the region, their mayor said on Tuesday.

Ali Eid said around 300 people from Srifa, a village of 6,000 inhabitants east of the southern port of Tyre, have been spending the night in tents for the past weeks.

Lebanese and Israeli experts warned on Monday that a strong earthquake could soon rock Lebanon and parts of Israel, and that unusual seismic activity had been noted in south Lebanon since February.

Moueen Hamze of Lebanon's national scientific research centre said 800 tremors ranging in magnitude from 2.3 to 5.1 on the Richter scale had shaken the south Lebanon regions of Tyre and Nabatiyeh since...