The Real Jerusalem Streets – Page 457 – Jerusalem, Israel

How Safe is Jerusalem from Earthquakes?

January 19, 2010rjstreets

Built between the hills of Judea, it seems that no part of Jerusalem is flat.

Israel sits on top of the Dead Sea Rift, a serious fault line.

In 1995, a 7.1 offshore earthquake occurred south of Eliat.

The most serious threat is to the northern part of the country,

but after the tragic results of another serious earthquake one has to wonder;

how safe are we?

What about those houses on the hilltops?

Certainly with stricter codes the new construction should be safer.

Many older building are supported by pillars.

The addition of elevators to apartment buildings,

not only increases their value and accessibility,

but also strengthens the structure making them much safer.

Updated, April 27

after Nepal earthquake:

5 years since the earthquake in Haiti

some good news to see some progress,

slow but progress has been made.

Glorious Food

January 15, 2010rjstreets

Machane Yehuda Market, The Shuk

Thursday afternoon,

the smells,

the colors,

the variety,

the flavors,

the people,

always an experience.

A couple of extreme cases of child abuse have exposed a glaring gap in communication between social service agencies and police. Only specially trained investigators are legally allowed to question minors in criminal cases, but there are not enough youth crime investigators, so sex offenders are often not prosecuted or monitored properly.

However, small children take public buses home from school, others use hasaot, private vans to transport them to schools not in walking distance..

Young children in Jerusalem have much more freedom of movement than children of the same age in many major cities outside of Israel; many walk home from school alone.

Schools and ganim, nursery schools, all have security.

Crossing the street can be very dangerous. A new safety campaign was displayed on city buses when the school year began, encouraging safe crossing.

With the onset of summer-like weather this week, the parks, outdoor malls and streets of Jerusalem were full of children of all ages.

Perfect weather for hundreds of children from all over Jerusalem who participated in school races in Gan Sacher.

A suspicious package was blown up in Gan Ha’atzmaut, Independence Park, on Sunday afternoon just as children were getting out of school. The park was cleared, everyone stopped for a few minutes, there was an explosion and then movement resumed.