Why is the Dead Sea so deep and so far below sea level?
The Dead Sea is so deep and far below sea level because it sits on a fault line where the earth's surface has dropped. The surrounding Jordan Valley is below sea level, the Sea of Galilee is 600 feet below, and the Dead Sea is 1,200–1,400 feet below and nearly that deep.
Les explains that the Dead Sea is so deep and so far below sea level because at times the fault has literally dropped the surface of the earth in that area. The whole Jordan Valley is below sea level. He notes that the Sea of Galilee is 600 feet below sea level, while the Dead Sea is 1,200 to 1,400 feet below sea level and almost that deep. Thus the bottom of the Dead Sea is by far the lowest point on earth, because it sits on this fault line. Great earthquakes in that part of the world are therefore not unusual but very commonplace.