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A 4.1-magnitude earthquake was recorded in southern Lebanon on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey said, after massive explosions were reported as Israel said it was destroying underground infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah.
People in the area reported a huge explosion that caused tremors, while the Israeli defense ministry released images showing a fireball erupting into the sky.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that Israel carried out a "massive explosion" on the Ali al-Taher ridge in the Nabatieh region, causing tremors and a powerful rumble that echoed loudly across the area.
The seismic event was registered roughly 13 kilometers west-southwest of Nabatiyeh, according to the US Geological Survey. The Israeli military said it used more than 1,100 tons of explosives to destroy the tunnel complex, according to Israeli media reports.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that the operation targeted underground infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, and that the demolition completed the establishment of a "security zone" in the area.
They said the network had included a command center and other facilities intended to support a possible Hezbollah incursion into Israel's Galilee region, and that it had provided observation and fire-control capabilities overlooking the northern Israeli communities of Metulla and Kiryat Shmona.
Netanyahu and Katz said the destruction of the complex gave Israeli military operational control of the Ali al-Taher ridge "above and below ground," adding that Israeli troops would remain in the security zone, continue to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure and seek to prevent the group from rebuilding its capabilities.
Thursday's blast is the latest in a series of large-scale Israeli demolitions of suspected Hezbollah tunnel networks across southern Lebanon in recent months, several of which have generated seismic readings and shaken communities well beyond the immediate blast sites.
Southern Lebanon has served as a stronghold for Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group that has fought repeated conflicts with Israel, and its underground tunnel networks have been a recurring target of Israeli military operations in the region.
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