Quake and Hailstorm Strike Israel

An earth tremor measuring a low 3.6 on the Richter scale was felt in parts of Galilee early Saturday morning but caused no damage.

Experts said the epicenter of the tremor was in the Hula Valley region, along the fault line of the Syrian-African rift, which runs from Turkey to East Africa.

But while the tremor had little effect in Galilee, an unusual hailstorm swept over the nearby Golan Heights, causing damage to produce in orchards.

Local farmers said large hailstones woke them during the night and wrecked a significant amount of fruit just beginning to grow.

Eli Malka, a farmer of Moshav Sha’al and chairman of the Golan Settlers Committee, estimated that 80 percent of his nectarine crop had been destroyed by the hailstorm.