Jordan

Jordan is bisected from north to south by the Dead Sea Transform Fault, the left-lateral strike-slip boundary between the Arabian Plate and the Sinai (African) microplate. This major tectonic feature accommodates roughly 3–6 millimetres per year of relative plate motion and has been active for approximately 18 million years, accumulating a total of about 105 kilometres of offset. The Jordan Rift Valley, through which the fault system runs, is a dramatic topographic expression of the transform, with the Dead Sea basin — a pull-apart structure at a releasing bend — occupying the lowest point on Earth's land surface at 430 metres below sea level. Active fault segments cross through the Wadi Araba, the Jordan Valley, and the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, with branches extending into eastern Jordan along the Zarqa Ma'in Fault and related structures.

Jordan's seismic history is documented from biblical and early historical sources as well as modern seismometry. The 749 AD Palestine earthquake (estimated magnitude 7.0–7.5) caused catastrophic destruction along the Jordan Valley and across much of the Fertile Crescent, killing tens of thousands. The 1927 Jericho earthquake (magnitude 6.2) caused deaths and building damage on both sides of the river, including in Amman. Smaller events are recorded regularly. The city of Aqaba on the Red Sea experienced a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in 1995 that caused casualties and damage in both Jordan and Israel. Paleoseismic trenching across the southern Dead Sea Transform has revealed evidence of seven prehistoric earthquakes with magnitudes estimated between 6.5 and 7.4 over the past 2,000 years, suggesting an average recurrence interval of several centuries for major events.

The tectonic context of Jordan's seismicity involves the northward drift of the Arabian Plate as the Red Sea spreads apart. The Dead Sea Transform accommodates the differential motion between the fast-moving Arabian Plate and the slower Sinai microplate to the west. Jordan sits entirely on the Arabian Plate, meaning the [[fault]] system runs through rather than around the country. The pull-apart basins along the transform — the Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee, and smaller sub-basins — form by extension at releasing bends where the fault steps to the left. Compressional ridges form at restraining bends. The [[epicenter]] distribution of Jordanian earthquakes traces the transform system closely, with secondary activity associated with basement faults in the eastern desert of Jordan. The Jordan Rift Valley sediments are soft and water-saturated in places, raising [[liquefaction]] concern for built infrastructure in the valley.