A 5.2-magnitude Earthquake hits Egypt

A 5.2 magnitude earthquake rattled Egypt on Saturday but no damage or injuries were reported, an official told Ahram Online.

Abo El-Eila Amin, deputy head of the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, said that the earthquake hit at 5:34pm local time and lasted for several seconds.

The epicentre of the earthquake was 6km south-east of Nuweiba, a coastal town in Sinai, around 332km away from Cairo.

Amin also said that the earthquake’s epicentre was 11km below sea level.

The last earthquake to hit Egypt was in March. With the epicentre in northern Egypt, it registered 5.7 on the Richter scale and was felt in Cairo, Suez and cities along the north coast.

The most destructive earthquake in the country’s modern history struck Cairo in October 1992 and registered a magnitude of 5.8. It killed more than 500 people, injured thousands and displaced tens of thousands more.

Source: Ahram Online