Magnitude 5.5 earthquake strikes near Egypt's Suez

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake shook eastern Egypt early Monday, prompting authorities to activate response plans although there were no immediate requests for emergency help.

The tremors were felt across a wide area, waking AFP journalists across Cairo and reaching as far as El-Arish near Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip.

The quake struck about 40 kilometres north of the city of Suez at 3:00 am (0000 GMT), according to Egypt’s National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, which revised an earlier estimate of 5.2.

The US Geological Survey put the shallow tremor at magnitude 5.0, revising down an earlier 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”.

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There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, according to the health ministry and the Egyptian Red Crescent.

The Egyptian Red Crescent urged residents to stay away from old and dilapidated buildings, which are common in some of Cairo’s working-class neighbourhoods.

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.