From: hermi@function.mps.ohio-state.edu (Lotfi Hermi)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.arabic
Subject: The Egyptian Quake
Date: 13 Oct 1992 09:22:14 -0400
Organization: Department of Mathematics, The Ohio State University
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: function.mps.ohio-state.edu

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>From Clarinet<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Subject: Reports say 450 die, including 200 students, in Egyptian quake
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 92 5:12:32 PDT
Slugword: egypt-quake
Priority: regular

	CAIRO, Egypt (UPI) -- At least 450 people died, including 200 young
students attending evening school, and 3,500 were injured in the
earthquake that rocked Cairo, flattening old or poorly constructed
buildings and spreading panic across the metropolitan area of 14
million, the Al Ahram newspaper reported Tuesday.
	An aftershock reportedly was not as strong as Monday's first shock,
which measured 5.9 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was just 20 miles
southwest of the city. It was the most powerful earthquake on record so
close to the Egyptian capital, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
	The quake was felt across the country from Aswan in the south to
Alexandria in the north, but hardest hit were Cairo and nearby cities.
The quake downed at least 150 houses and buildings in Cairo, killing 450
people and injuring between 3,000 and 4,000 people, the Al Ahram
newspaper said.
	Most of the collapses occurred in Cairo, where at least 150
residential buildings, schools and other buildings collapsed, including
two high-rise apartment buildings in the elegant Heliopolis and Maadi
sections of the city. The Al Ahram newspaper said damage was estimated
at over $150 million. Officials predicted the death toll would rise as
rubble was cleared.
	King Fahd of Saudi Arabia pledged $50 million to help victims and he
has placed his country's ministry of health, doctors and medical
capabilities at Egypt's disposal, the Al Ahram said.
	The toll also was high in Qalyubiya, where four schools collapsed and
40 people died. At Giza, the home of the ancient pyramids and the
Sphinx, 13 people died, 53 were injured and eight buildings collapsed.
There was no initial word on whether any antiquities were damaged.
	The quake caused buildings in Cairo to sway for at least 15 seconds,
causing people to flee from their homes, offices and workshops.
Decorative stone cornices atop the German School crumbled and fell,
crushing four cars on the street below, witnesses said.
	``It was crazy,'' said Ahmad Muntasser, a pharmacist working from a
shop on the ground floor of a 14-story apartment building. ``I wouldn't
have thought such a large number of tenants and their families could
make it downstairs that fast. I was surprised when I came out of my
pharmacy to see such a large crowd of people already on the street.''
	The government responded to the emergency quickly, with the Cabinet
of Prime Minister Atef Sedki forming a working group of high-level
officials and establishing the central operating room to coordinate
rescue work and investigate reported collapses.
	The Ministry of Health declared the situation an emergency. President
Hosni Mubarak, in Beijing as part of a five nation trip to Europe and
Asia, decided to cut short his visit after speaking several times by
telephone with Sedki, Cairo radio reported.
	Cracks were reported in the Abdeen presidential palace in downtown
Cairo and in the city's police headquarters.
	The Education Ministry has ordered all schools and colleges closed
and health workers were ordered to work around the clock.
	The governor of Aswan, site of the massive Aswan dam, said the quake
had been felt in the southern city but had not caused any damage to the
dam. Residents in Alexandria, the Egyptian coastal city on the
Mediterranean Sea, also reported feeling the temblor. The quake was felt
as far north as Israel.
	The Interior Ministry appealed for all doctors, nurses, ambulance
workers and fire brigades to report for duty. The ministry also was
calling the armed forces to duty to help with rescue work and ordered
people to limit travel in the crowded streets to make way for ambulances
and rescue teams.
	The quake knocked out power to parts of the city, and residents were
directed to report injuries, collapses and damage to passing police
patrols on the streets.
	Earthquake monitors at the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo.,
said the quake measured 5.9 on the Richter scale.
	Don Finley, a spokesman for the Geological Survey, said the tremor
was centered about 20 miles southwest of Cairo in an area where
earthquakes are common.
	Israeli earthquake monitors said the temblor was felt in Jerusalem,
300 miles northeast of the capital, where shaking rattled the furniture.
A seismologist at Israel's Institute of Geophysics said the quake
measured 5.5 on the Richter scale and was followed by a lighter quake
centered north of the Red Sea.
	Israeli President Chaim Herzog sent a telegram of condolence to
Mubarak, expressing ``sympathy for the victims of the earthquake and
wishing the injured a speedy recovery,'' his office said. Israel also
offered to assistance in the cleanup following the quake.
	The last damaging earthquake to hit near Cairo registered 5.0 on the
Richter scale and struck Jan. 2, 1987, near the Suez Canal northeast of
Cairo, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
	The Geological Survey said the quake was the largest on record so
close to Cairo, but added that it was far smaller than the temblor
measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale that struck the southern tip of the
Sinai peninsula March 31, 1969.


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