CAIRO: Cairo residents were woken by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake which struck Egypt Tuesday morning at 6:26 am. The earthquake affected Cairo as well as its surrounding governorates. According to news reports, it originated 561 km northwest of Alexandria in the seismically active Mediterranean belt area, at a depth of 32 km. "This earthquake is of average power, it happens thousands of times, Salah Mohamed Mahmoud, head of the National Institute for Astronomy and Geophysics, told Daily News Egypt. The Ministry of Interior confirmed to Daily News Egypt that no casualties or serious property damages were reported. "We may experience weaker aftershocks, nothing destructive though, Mahmoud added. A statement by the Athens Geodynamic Institute said the earthquake struck at 6:26 am (03:26 GMT) with its epicenter located 445 km southeast of Athens, beneath the seabed south of Rhodes. It left one dead in Greece. The US Geological Survey also confirmed the quake at 6.4 on the Richter scale. Magnitudes often differ in the first hours and days after an earthquake. A Greek earthquake expert told NET TV that the earthquake may cause a small tsunami, but stressed it would be very weak if its center was deep. However, Mahmoud said that a real tsunami was out of the question: "What may happen is the generation of small sea waves which can be felt by boats. Greece is one of the most seismically active countries in the world. Its earthquakes are usually felt by residents in the northern part of Egypt but most of them do not cause damage or injuries. A geological study conducted by Egyptian geologist Taha Mohamed Aboul-Azayem recently warned that in the coming few years, Cairo might be subject to three destructive earthquakes that could measure up to seven degrees on the Richter scale.
