"On that day...the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south." (Zechariah 14:4).

Officials report the three most destructive earthquakes in Israel since the 18th century happened in 1759, 1837 and 1927. According to a report from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency at the time of the 1927 quake, there was 'not a house in Jerusalem or Hebron' that did not sustain some damage. Page 17 of the Atlas of Israel: Cartography, Physical and Human Geography. Tel-Aviv: Survey of Israel, 1985, depicts the cleft that was left through the Mount of Olives.