An earthquake, a sandstorm and a heat wave struck Egypt on Saturday but there was no immediate report of casualties or damages.
The U.S. Geological Survey located the epicenter of the 5:34 p.m. earthquake that registered 5.1 on the Richter scale at 2.5 miles southeast of the beachside town of Nuweiba in the Sinai peninsula, according to Associated Press.
The earthquake panicked many south Sinai residents, who ran to the streets, and shook buildings in the capital, Cairo, more than 200 miles away from the epicenter. It was also felt in Suez and shook loose clouds of dust in the Red Sea town of Dahab, 42 miles south of the epicenter. The dust enveloped nearby mountains.
The tremor was felt in the Gush Dan area in central Israel, Jerusalem, the Negev area and Eilat, according to Times of Israel. The earthquake started in the eastern Gulf of Aqaba and hit the Sinai Peninsula, the Red Sea governorate and the Nile Delta area hardest, said Ahmed Badawi, the head of Egypt's national earthquake network, according to Al Bawaba.
Egypt's National Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research (NIAGR) recorded 40 aftershocks following the earthquake, with the strongest one recording a magnitude of 3.8 on the Richter scale, said NIAGR Director Abul Ela Amin, according to Egypt Independent.
Meanwhile, the dust storm covered the capital with a thick orange cloud.
Airports near Alexandria and Marsa Matrouh, along the Mediterranean coast, closed and diverted flights to Cairo due to poor visibility, Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamel said in a statement, according to the AP.
Egypt's Meteorological Authority predicted the Saturday dust and sand storms on desert highways along with a heat wave. Temperatures of 104 Fahrenheit in Cairo and 113 Fahrenheit in southern Egypt were expected to last for 24 hours, the Authority's head, Ahmed Abdel-Aal, said on Thursday, according to Ahram Online.
