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By UCHE Precious
On Monday, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook eastern Egypt making authorities to activate response plans, although there was no report of casualties.
The tremor was felt across a wide area, and it alerted journalists in Cairo, reaching as far as al-Arish near Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip.
According to Egypt’s National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, the quake struck about 40 kilometres north of the city of Suez at 3qm and was followed by five aftershocks, and it was revised to an estimated magnitude of 5.2
The US Geological Survey put the shallow tremor at 5.0, revising down a previous reading.
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.”
Authorities said three families were evacuated from a collapsing building in the northern Cairo neighbourhood of Rod al-Farag.
The Egyptian Red Crescent received another report of a collapsed balcony near the quake’s epicentre in Suez.
The rescue organisation urged residents to stay away from old and dilapidated buildings, which are common in many of Egypt’s working-class neighbourhoods.
Egypt’s health ministry reported only one injury.
