8 January 2026 –
The Jordan Seismological Observatory recorded a total of 1,316 seismic events during 2025, including 106 local earthquakes, 618 regional earthquakes, and 592 distant earthquakes.
The Head of the Jordan Seismological Observatory, Ghassan Sweidan, stated that local earthquakes were mainly concentrated in the Dead Sea, Gulf of Aqaba, Wadi Araba, Jordan Valley, Tiberias, and adjacent border areas, with magnitudes ranging between 1.0 and 4.2 on the Richter scale.
Meanwhile, regional earthquakes were concentrated in Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, the Mediterranean Sea, and Iran, with magnitudes ranging from 2.1 to 6.2 on the Richter scale.
Sweidan added that the majority of distant earthquakes were concentrated in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Japan, Kamchatka, and Indonesia, with magnitudes ranging between 4.2 and 8.7 on the Richter scale.
He further explained that local earthquakes were distributed as follows:
- 49 earthquakes in the Jordan Valley, Carmel, Tiberias, and adjacent border areas, with magnitudes between 1.5 and 3.4;
- 22 earthquakes in the Gulf of Aqaba and adjacent southern border areas, with magnitudes between 1.6 and 4.2;
- 19 earthquakes in the Dead Sea area, with magnitudes between 1.0 and 2.5;
- 13 earthquakes in Wadi Araba, with magnitudes between 1.1 and 2.6;
- In addition to 3 earthquakes in the Sirhan Fault and Ruwaished areas, with magnitudes between 1.7 and 2.2.
The Jordan Seismological Observatory operates 23 seismic monitoring stations distributed across the Kingdom, including 20 Jordanian stations transmitting data via GPRS, in addition to two stations operated by the German Geophysical Institute (Hamrat Al-Sahn/Al-Salt station and Ghor Al-Haditha station), and one station affiliated with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) located in Al-Asfar area east of Safawi, enhancing monitoring accuracy and rapid response to seismic activity.