The head of the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG) Gad al-Qady said that Egypt is outside the seismic belt.
Although it records seismic activity on an almost daily basis, most of it is imperceptible.
During a telephone interview with the “Extra al-Youm” program, on “Extra News” satellite channel, Qady warned against the spread of rumors about the occurrence of severe earthquakes.
His remarks came on Saturday after an earthquake was recorded 27 km northeast of Hurghada, Red Sea governorate.
He explained that the northern Red Sea region has seismic activity, but 85 percent of earthquakes there are not felt because their magnitude is less than three to 3.5 Richter degrees.
Sometimes earthquakes are of medium degree, he said, as happened at dawn on Saturday with a magnitude of 4.5 on the Richter scale.
He added that studies confirm that the Red Sea expands at a rate of one cm per year, as a result of its geological formation, and therefore “we witness seismic activity in northern Red Sea, the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba, especially the Gulf of Aqaba.
Qady explained that these earthquakes in the recent period are in their natural range, whether inside or outside Egypt.
Modern technologies now enable measuring and monitoring earthquakes, even if they are imperceptible, he said.
Qady noted that as a result of the communication between the earthquake monitoring center and the media, there was heightened interest among citizens to follow the news of earthquake activity.
