et guide: Is Egypt vulnerable to a major earthquake?

Egypt Today

2 days ago

Earthquake - file
CAIRO - 3 June 2025: Egypt among other countries felt an earthquake that struck earlier Tuesday, and its measuring recorded at a magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter scale. No injuries or damages were reported as a result.
The Egyptian Red Crescent announced that its operations room detected an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, at a depth of 62 km, in the Dodecanese Islands border area with Turkey, 129 km south-southeast of Aydın, Turkey, at 11:17 a.m.
The earthquake was felt by residents of Greater Cairo, the Delta, Alexandria, and Marsa Matrouh. The current situation is stable, and no reports of human or property damage have been received so far.
Egypt has felt at least three strong earthquakes in less than a month.
Is Egypt safe from destructive earthquakes?
Sherif El-Hadi, head of the Seismology Department at the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, explained in previous statements that Egypt is relatively safe from destructive earthquakes compared to other areas directly located on seismic belts.
Although history indicates that the region may experience significant seismic activity in the long term, the timing of this event cannot be determined based on recent seismic activity.
Although Egyptians have felt some recent tremors, these were mostly caused by earthquakes centered outside Egypt in seismically active areas.
Egypt itself is not directly located on a seismic belt, and there is no indication that an unusually large earthquake is imminent in the near future based on these earthquakes.
Recent Earthquakes and Their Feelings in Egypt
Recently, some Egyptians have felt several earthquakes, all of which had their epicenters outside Egypt.
This includes the earthquake that occurred at 2:00 AM Cairo local time on Tuesday, centered in Turkey.
Another earthquake recently felt by Egyptians was centered south of the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea. This region is known for its seismic activity, and earthquakes that occur in the Mediterranean are usually non-destructive to Egypt and do not pose any immediate threat to Egyptian territory.
The Possibility of Predicting Earthquakes
The National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics confirmed that earthquakes cannot be predicted, and that the frequency of earthquakes in the eastern Mediterranean region is normal, and the National Seismic Network monitors them in real-time.