A 5.2 magnitude earthquake which hit Egypt was not followed with reports of deaths or injuries, Egypt’s Health Ministry said on Saturday, shortly after the tremor.
The ministry said in a statement that it has raised the highest level of alert in the ambulance and emergency care administrations, state television reported.
The earthquake was felt across Egypt and in neighbouring countries.
Seismic activity registered 5.2 on the Richter scale, Mohamed Abuolela, the head of the state’s National Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics Research was cited by state agency MENA as saying.
Earlier, the head of Egypt’s national earthquake network told Aswat Masriya that the magnitude of the quake was 5.1.
Aboulela said the earthquake started six kilometres from Nuweiba, off the Sinai Peninsula’s Gulf of Aqaba coast, at a depth of 11 kilometres under the surface of the sea. This is about 350 kilometers to the east of the capital Cairo.
He added that the small aftershocks have followed the earthquake, but they could not be felt.
The earthquake took place at 5:34 pm in local Cairo time and was simultaneously sensed in Southern Israel and in Jordan.
Inside Egypt, Cairo residents described feeling the tremors in their homes and in South Sinai, many residents took to the street in panic.
Aboulela said this is a seismically active area. In 1995, a strong quake with a magnitude of 7.3 started in the Gulf of Aqaba.