Earthquake near Suez puts Egypt’s emergency services on standby

CAIRO – An earthquake measuring 5.6 in magnitude struck 38 km  north of the Egyptian city of Suez just after 3:00 a.m. (0000 GMT) on Monday, Egypt’s National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics said.

The institute said it had received no reports of casualties or damage to property.

Egypt’s health minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar ordered emergency response plans activated across the country and directed ambulance services to be at “maximum levels of preparedness.”

The Egyptian Red Crescent said it activated its emergency response plan in the governorates where the quake was felt. It urged residents to avoid buildings showing signs of structural damage and to follow official updates as authorities continued to assess the situation.

The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) measured the earthquake at magnitude 5.4 and said it struck at a depth of 10 km. 

Intense earthquakes are uncommon in the northeast African country.

The country’s deadliest earthquake in modern history struck in October 1992, when a 5.8-magnitude quake shook the capital, killing over 500 people and displacing thousands.