• The Yammouneh Fault, the longest fault in Lebanon
• The Roum Fault, which runs from south Lebanon to the town of Roum in the Jezzine Qada’a, then deviates towards Beirut.
• The Serghaya Fault, which runs from Syria to Lebanon and then to Palestine.

Situated in a seismic-prone zone, Lebanon has been struck by several earthquakes in the past centuries and decades. In 551 AD, parts of the city of Beirut were reduced to ruins by an earthquake. In 1170, the city of Tripoli faced a similar fate. A few hundred years later, in 1759 Beirut suffered another deadly earthquake. The tremors were so strong that they were felt in Damascus and according to accounts caused the death of roughly 40,000 people.

The most recent earthquake to hit Lebanon occurred in 1956.

The 1956 Earthquake

On the morning of March 16th, 1956, Lebanon was hit by a catastrophic earthquake of 5.6 degrees on the Richter Scale, mainly affecting the regions of El-Shouf, Jezzine, Saida and parts of the Beqa’a. The aftershocks left 140 people dead and 500 injured and caused huge structural damage both to buildings and infrastructure. Amongst the latter were roads, which being not modern, sustained extensive damage.

The earthquake wreaked havoc on most of the houses, mainly in the towns of Chehim, where the center of the earthquake was, and in Anout, Mazboud and Joun all the way to El-Chouf and Saida. The construction was too primitive to withstand even the weakest of earthquakes, and thus approximately 6000 houses were leveled to the ground.

In response to the disaster, the state stepped in to shelter approximately 15,000 people in displacement camps and to provide them with food and medical kits and other basic survival items and heating devices to endure the freezing cold of March. 24 days later, on the 9th of April, 1956, the government formed the National Authority for Reconstruction, with a clear mission to reconstruct those areas that were affected by the earthquake.

Lebanon has several fault lines, which makes it prone to earthquakes in the future. It is certain that none of the Lebanese wishes to re-live the misery that followed the disaster in 1956. Even though Lebanon back then was a solid state with strong administrative and financial structure, it still could not prevent the repercussions of the earthquake, from displacement to delay in compensating the injured parties, etc. Because of the deficiencies and failures marring the effectiveness of the government today, Lebanon is unlikely to face up to a disaster on such a scale when it occurs. Thus, the Lebanese will probably end up being stranded for months or even years, lying in wait for the promised aid for reconstruction.