Earthquake of magnitude 4.8 strikes Jordan-Syria region, GFZ reports

4.8 magnitude earthquake hits Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, causing panic but no immediate fatalities reported.

A 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck Jordan and Syria late on Monday (August 12, 2014), according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), with residents across both countries and in Lebanon feeling its impacts but no immediate reports of fatalities.

“The quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles),” GFZ said. It had earlier reported the magnitude at 5.46 but revised it down minutes later.

Syria's state news agency said it had registered the earthquake's epicentre east of the Syrian city of Hama. Hama police chief Major General Hussein Jumaa told Syrian state media that there were no reports of injuries in the city.

In Salamiya, a town approximately 30 km (18.5 miles) east of Hama city, residents rushed out into the dark streets out of fear, said Nasser Duyub, a state employee living there.

"My son was sleeping, I don't know how I grabbed him and got out of the house," Mr. Duyub told Reuters.

Residents said they saw a balcony collapse and ambulances treating people who had fainted.

Others in Syria said they had immediate flashbacks to 2023, when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed more than 50,000 - mostly in Turkey but with thousands also perishing in northern Syria. The quake also left widespread destruction in both countries.