Audio recordings circulating in Jordan caused great panic after their owners claimed that Jordan would be exposed to a devastating earthquake, similar to the one that struck Morocco, claiming thousands of lives and displacing tens of thousands from their homes.
The Al Arabiya.net network publishes these audio recordings, to prevent their distribution, and to refute all rumors related to this case.
The publication date of the audio recordings coincided with the fact that the Jordanian authorities carried out a tactical exercise simulating the occurrence of an earthquake in Jordan called "Safety Route 3".
The Jordanian authorities intervene
The media spokesman for the Directorate of Internal Security in Jordan, Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi, said for his part that the Cyber Crimes Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department is monitoring a number of misleading recordings distributed by people who caused panic among citizens, published incorrect information and false claims about the occurrence of disasters and earthquakes. This is unacceptable and has nothing to do with truth or science.
Lt. Col. Saratavi confirmed that the unit is working to identify the owners of these recordings and those seeking to promote them in order to arrest them and refer them to the judiciary for punishment in accordance with the provisions of the law, while pointing out the necessity not to pay attention to such recordings or distribute them.
The media spokesperson confirmed that the relevant authorities have not hesitated and will not hesitate to publish any warnings or alerts concerning citizens, and urge everyone not to spread such false accusations or contribute to their publication.
The National Center for Security and Crisis Management announced the end of the Safety Path-3 exercise, which it implemented with the participation of various state institutions, the armed forces, security agencies and the private sector.
The exercise is designed to determine the degree of preparedness and to test the national capabilities in dealing with earthquakes and their consequences in different regions of the kingdom.
A professor of seismology at the University of Jordan, Najib Abu Karaqi, confirmed that earthquakes cannot be predicted and that rumors about expected earthquakes and earthquakes confuse citizens.
He noted that the world witnesses strong and unexpected earthquakes every three days.