BEIRUT: A quarry explosion caused an earthquake in Lebanon that was felt by the residents of Zahle in the Bekaa Valley on June 3, according to the internal security forces.
They had opened a probe to determine the cause of the tremor and found that its epicenter was the Qaa Al-Rim region, 4 km from the city of Zahle.
According to the investigation, the quake at 2:15 p.m. was “caused by an explosion in quarries in the Tweiti area, owned by two people from the Abu Hamdan family.”
The quake measured magnitude 3 on the Richter scale, according to Marleine Brax, director of the National Center for Geophysics, who added that the tremor “was preceded by the sound of an explosion.”
Nasser Yassin, minister of environment in the caretaker government, said: “We had issued a decision to close this quarry, in particular, some time ago, and there is a judicial order to seal it with red wax.”
According to the investigation carried out by a technical expert, “the explosion was caused by the use of large quantities of explosive materials that were introduced deep into the ground in the area of these quarries.”
Geological expert Dr. Nelson Rizk told Arab News: “Those who carry out the work of blasting quarries use a type of dynamite that gives medium but consecutive explosions, which affects the geological layers. It has nothing to do with ammonium nitrate. This type of dynamite is considered very strong and is prohibited globally, but in Lebanon, all prohibited materials can be found.”
Rizk added: “The use of these prohibited substances generates vibrations, has a bad effect on the environment and leaves toxic substances that threaten health.
“The quarries violate areas that may be close to the Yammouneh fault, which is an active and movable fault. Explosions may affect it and increase seismic movements. So far, the effect is very limited, and moving the fault requires vibrations of about magnitude 4 or 4.5 on the Richter scale.”
The Zahle tremors follow the destructive earthquake that struck Turkiye and Syria on Feb. 6.
Seismologist Dr. Tony El-Nemr said: “The tremor that occurred in the Zahle is suspiciously similar to the tremor that occurred in Keserwan (Mount Lebanon) on May 6 of last year in terms of timing (Saturday afternoon) and location (a quarry).”
The National Center for Geophysics, in collaboration with the National Institute of Earth Sciences in Grenoble, France, in a report on the movements of the earth’s crust in the eastern Mediterranean basin, drew the attention of geologists to “the concentration of earthquakes observed in Lebanon during the daytime and on official holidays.”
Minister Yassin said: “There are 1,235 sites where rock extraction is taking place on Lebanese territory, based on the survey conducted by the Lebanese army, dozens of which are in violation, and some are operating on critical seismic points. However, law enforcement on the ground is the responsibility of the security forces and local administrations.”
Yassin told Arab News that the quarries, crushers and sand quarries sector owed the state treasury at least $2.4 billion for materials extracted between 2007 and 2018, including about $1 billion in fees and taxes. “This does not include the cost of the suffering and encroachments that are left for the judiciary to determine, and what the affected individuals are supposed to claim in compensation,” he said.
He added that the Environment Ministry was working with the Justice Ministry “to study the most appropriate legal methods to pursue the case, as this is a fundamental step toward collecting treasury funds and stopping previous practices in this sector and thus reforming it.”
However, Ghayath Yazbek, head of the parliamentary environment committee, said that authorities were yet to decide 10 days after the quake “whether it was a natural earthquake or a human act.”
At a parliament meeting on Tuesday, the committee listened to representatives of the agencies in the Ministries of Environment, Public Works and Finance. It also heard accounts from the army and internal security forces.
Yazbek said: “The investigations are still underway, and we have not yet been able to know the nature of this explosion. Was it a seismic move or the product of human activity? What we heard is very disturbing, because the quarries in the Zahle area are supposed to be sealed with red wax.”
Quarry owners in the area were quick to deny that any work had taken place. But Yazbek said that an official in the internal security forces “confirmed intermittent activity.”
The National Authority for the Litani River was tasked by the government to prepare a report on sand quarries and mines within the Litani River Basin, revealing embezzled funds resulting from quarry operations.
The report provided a detailed account of all quarry, mine, and crusher sites in all Lebanese territories, revealing huge profits, damaged areas and widespread tax evasion.
According to the report, about 65,000,000 square meters across Lebanon has been damaged by activity from 1,356 quarries, crushers and sand mines. About 1.6 billion cubic meters of raw materials are estimated to have been extracted from the sites, resulting in profits of $24 billion.
Probe into Lebanon’s Zahle quake points to quarry blast
https://arab.news/8uq2e
Probe into Lebanon’s Zahle quake points to quarry blast

- According to the investigation, the quake at 2:15 p.m. was “caused by an explosion in quarries in the Tweiti area, owned by two people from the Abu Hamdan family”
- The quake measured magnitude 3 on the Richter scale, according to Marleine Brax, director of the National Center for Geophysics
Syria monitor reports 134 Alawite civilians killed by security forces
BEIRUT: Syrian security forces “executed” 134 civilians on Friday in the Mediterranean heartland of ousted president Bashar Assad’s Alawite minority, a war monitor said.
Some “134 Alawite civilians, including at least 13 women and five children, were executed by security forces in the regions of Banyas, Latakia and Jableh,” Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP, bringing the overall toll to 229 since the outbreak of violence on Thursday, when authorities began a vast security operation following clashes.
Yemen’s Houthis give Israel four-day deadline to lift Gaza aid blockage

- The Iran-aligned movement staged more than 100 attacks on shipping from November 2023
- “We will give a deadline for four days. This deadline is for the (Gaza ceasefire) mediators for their efforts,” Al-Houthi said
CAIRO: The leader of Yemen’s Houthis, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, said on Friday the group would resume its naval operations against Israel if Israel did not lift a blockage of aid into Gaza within four days.
The Iran-aligned movement staged more than 100 attacks on shipping from November 2023, saying they were in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza — and the assaults tailed off in January after a ceasefire there.
Over that period, it sank two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers in an offensive that disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.
“We will give a deadline for four days. This deadline is for the (Gaza ceasefire) mediators for their efforts,” Al-Houthi said.
“If the Israeli enemy after four days continues to prevent the humanitarian aid into Gaza and continues to completely close the crossings, we will resume our naval operations against the Israeli enemy.”
On March 2, Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza as a standoff over the truce escalated, with Hamas calling on Egyptian and Qatari mediators to intervene.
The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, also said in February they will take military action if the US and Israel try to displace Palestinians from Gaza forcibly.
UN envoy ‘deeply alarmed’ by clashes, killings in Syria

- Geir Pedersen insisted there was “clearly an immediate need for restraint from all parties”
GENEVA: The UN envoy for the Syrian Arab Republic voiced alarm Friday at reports of clashes and killings in coastal areas between Syrian caretaker authority forces and elements loyal to toppled president Bashar Assad’s regime.
Decrying “very troubling reports of civilian casualties,” Geir Pedersen insisted there was “clearly an immediate need for restraint from all parties, and full respect for the protection of civilians in accordance with international law.”
UN chopper hit in South Sudan, killing one crew member and some soldiers

- The UN crew was trying to airlift soldiers following heavy clashes in Nasir
- “The attack... is utterly abhorrent and may constitute a war crime under international law,” said Haysom
NAIROBI: A United Nations helicopter attempting to evacuate South Sudanese troops came under fire in the northern town of Nasir on Friday, the UN mission there said, resulting in the death of a crew member and several soldiers including a general.
The UN crew was trying to airlift soldiers following heavy clashes in Nasir between national forces and the White Army militia, a group which President Salva Kiir’s government has linked to forces loyal to his rival and First Vice President Riek Machar.
“The attack... is utterly abhorrent and may constitute a war crime under international law,” said the head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Nicholas Haysom.
“We also regret the killing of those that we were attempting to extract, particularly when assurances of safe passage had been received. UNMISS urges an investigation to determine those responsible and hold them accountable.”
Calls to the government’s spokesperson, Information Minister Michael Makuei, were not answered. But Kiir’s office said the president would make an address to the nation on Friday afternoon.
The White Army, mostly from the Nuer ethnic group, fought alongside Machar’s forces in the 2013-2018 civil war that pitted them against predominantly ethnic Dinka troops loyal to Kiir.
Machar’s spokesperson this week said security forces had arrested the petroleum minister, the peacebuilding minister, the deputy head of the army and other senior military officials allied with Machar, raising fears for the country’s fragile peace process.
The government has not commented on the detentions and Machar’s party has denied involvement in the fighting in Nasir.
French loan to help Morocco buy 18 fast trains ahead of World Cup

- The trains are part of a plan to extend the high-speed rail network
- Alstom will supply Moroccan state-owned rail operator ONCF, with Avelia Horizon double-decker trains
RABAT: France will lend Morocco 781 million euros to finance the purchase of 18 high-speed trains made by Alstom, the French embassy in Rabat said on Friday.
The trains are part of a plan to extend the high-speed rail network from Kenitra on the western coast to Marrakech before the 2030 World Cup that Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal.
Alstom will supply Moroccan state-owned rail operator ONCF, with Avelia Horizon double-decker trains that can carry 640 passengers with a speed of 320 km/h, the embassy said in a statement.
ONCF also aims to expand its network to double the number of cities it serves to 43, or 87 percent of the Moroccan population, by 2040.
In February, ONCF said it will also buy 150 trains under concessional loans from Spain and South Korea as it expands urban, intercity and high-speed rail networks.
South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem will supply 110 urban trains worth $1.5 billion, while Spain’s CAF will build 40 intercity trains for $813 million.
The deals include investments in the country’s nascent rail industry, ONCF said last month.