ISRAEL: The 'big one' that wasn't

As if people in this conflict-ridden region don’t have enough to be jittery about — an earthquake scare?

Thousands of Palestinians were evacuated from schools and offices today after rumors of an impending earthquake caused panic in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. According to one version of the rumor, a small tremor hit the area shortly before noon (untrue) and a potentially devastating aftershock was expected (also untrue, so far).

The source of the rumor remained as much of a mystery as the missing temblor. But as with almost every story here, the episode carried a political element.

One version held that Palestinian authorities had spread word of an impending quake in order to deter protesters in the West Bank town of Hebron, where police have clashed twice this week with demonstrators opposed to the Middle East peace conference in Annapolis. There was counter-speculation that Palestinian Authority officials were being blamed for the scare as a way to discredit them and the nascent peacemaking efforts.

The Israeli news website Ynet was reporting that the rumor took off after Palestinian education officials ordered schools to make earthquake-preparedness plans. It said word soon spread that the expected quake would measure 7 or higher on the Richter scale.

The Geophysical Institute of Israel, which monitors seismological activity, said the rumor was unfounded, and that officials don’t try to predict quakes.

Earthquakes, even big ones, have been known to hit here. At least two minor quakes could be felt in parts of Israel and the West Bank in recent weeks, renewing speculation that the region was due for a much bigger one sometime soon.

Meantime, we’ll try to stay focused on what’s happening on the ground, not under it.

— Ken Ellingwood in Jerusalem and Maher Abukhater in Ramallah, West Bank