Magnitude 3.9 Earthquake Jolts Lebanese Coast

Residents of the Lebanese coast felt a minor earthquake on Saturday afternoon.

State-run Bhannes National Center for Geophysical Research said the tremor's epicenter was in the sea off the area between Damour and Sidon.

It said the 3.9-magnitude quake hit 35 kilometers away from the coast at 1:50 p.m.

According to the center, the tremor was mainly felt in southern Lebanon.

Media reports said the quake was also felt in the capital Beirut and its suburbs.

In May 2014, a 4.2-magnitude earthquake jolted Beirut, the Mount Lebanon areas of Keserwan and Jbeil, and the northern regions of Tripoli and Batroun.

The epicenter of that quake was five kilometers off the coast of Jbeil.

In December, 2013, an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.1 was felt in Beirut and Mount Lebanon. The NCGR said at the time that the quake struck between Beirut and the Keserwan town of Ajaltoun.

According to the center, over 600 earthquakes with magnitudes below 3 degrees hit Lebanon each year.

More than 20 earthquakes were reported between the regions of Bikfaya and Aley on March 15, 2012.

In 1956, a 6 degrees on the Richter scale earthquake struck Lebanon, killing 136 people and destroying 6,000 houses.

Y.R.