Israeli volunteer rescuers prepare for expected quake amid lack of national readiness

Israel is reportedly in the 99th year of what experts describe as an average century-long earthquake cycle. Yet state comptroller reports and Knesset committee hearings have warned for years that Israel is not sufficiently prepared for what many officials consider an inevitable major earthquake.

As concerns grow, Israeli volunteer rescuers are stepping in to prepare for a disaster that could strike in the not-too-distant future.

Volunteer rescuer Elad Blumental revealed that he has always feared earthquakes. After attending a seminar on the dangers Israel faces, he concluded that “my previous fears were nothing compared to the fears I ought to have.”

He subsequently established OneDay, an organization that provides one-time social volunteering opportunities and trains volunteers to join earthquake rescue teams.

The last major earthquake in Israel occurred in 1927 and killed 500 people. However, Israel is far more densely populated today than it was a century ago, raising concerns that a future quake could cause significantly higher casualties.

“I think about all the Israelis who have been killed since October 7,” Blumental said, referring to the Hamas massacre of 1,200 Israelis that ignited a multi-front war with the Iranian regime and its regional terrorist proxies.

“After an earthquake, we are talking about 7,000 dead, 28,600 collapsed or seriously damaged buildings, and 9,500 people trapped under rubble,” he stressed, referring to a National Emergency Authority scenario based on a 7.8-magnitude earthquake similar to the one that struck Turkey and Syria in early 2023.

Israel dispatched a search-and-rescue team to Turkey following that disaster.

Concerns about Israel’s preparedness have persisted for years. In 2023, the State Comptroller’s Office warned that most Israeli cities were not sufficiently prepared for a major earthquake and assessed that 93% of the buildings most at risk had still not been fortified.

Three years later, the situation remains largely unchanged.

“It will take years and lots of money to strengthen buildings,” Blumental assessed.

In the meantime, his organization is focusing on expanding civilian rescue capabilities by training volunteers for an earthquake scenario.

He explained that once a building collapses, rescuers typically have a 24-hour window to locate people trapped beneath the rubble, although rescue operations can continue for up to 72 hours.

Blumental said meetings with the Israeli Home Front Command and various government ministries convinced him that authorities remained understaffed and insufficiently prepared to handle a major earthquake. As a result, he focused on developing volunteer-based rescue services.

The organization currently trains 10 volunteer teams across Israel in Tel Aviv, Kiryat Shmona, Safed, Haifa, Nesher, Acre, the Jezreel Valley, Rishon Lezion, Hefer Valley and Herzliya.

The initiative is supported by the Jewish Federations of Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Boston.

“We took around 350 physically fit volunteers aged 20 to 40 and trained them in basic and advanced rescue over three days,” Blumental recalled.

“They now meet every two months for training in subjects such as physical and mental health and how to operate others to help,” he continued.

“Each volunteer has a bag with a helmet, boots, gloves, kneecaps and first aid,” he explained.

“Each team has a nine-square-meter [97 square foot] trailer packed with heavy equipment, such as hammers, disc saws, and generators… They know how to break, dig, and make their way through rubble to reach people. They have extra helmets to give to residents who may want to help move the debris,” Blumental added.

The teams have already gained operational experience. Earlier this year, they responded after Iranian missile attacks damaged buildings across Israeli cities during the Iran war.

“Our teams worked during both Iran wars, last year and this year,” Blumental said. “Now, we want to create dozens of additional teams across the country.”