Another popular tourist destination was “threatened” by a natural disaster. Dutch seismologist, 55-year-old Frank Hoogerbits predicted on his YouTube channel that the next place of destructive tremors will be Egypt, as well as Lebanon. According to him, it is based on a study of the vulnerability of both areas to seismic activity.
“I can’t tell if it’s going to happen next week or in the next five or ten years,” Hoogerbits said. However, he stated that it was the peak of the full moon, which fell on February 9-10, that caused strong tremors. According to him, “seismic activity may spread towards Lebanon and further to Egypt.
We should add that there are also skeptical assessments of the soothsayer’s calculations. Thus, the Lebanese Seismological Center stated that the author is spreading false information for “hype”. On the other hand, it is challenging to call Egypt a seismically safe place.
Indeed, the “historical experience” of earthquakes in Egypt is relatively new since 1859. Then, a terrible earthquake on October 12 — whose power in the epicenter reached 8.3 points according to research — “swept” across the Mediterranean. On the island of Crete, where the center was located, the consequences were terrible, it was felt from Italy to the Middle East and North Africa. Cairo was also under attack – houses were destroyed there, blockages formed in the canals, and at least 10 people died – probably much more, but normal statistics are not available. Alexandria and other settlements on the coast were also affected.
Almost a century later, in September 1959, the Alexandria earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 was recorded: almost 500 houses were destroyed, 18 people died and about 30 were injured. Later, in 1969, the then-new Egyptian resort – of Sharm el-Sheikh “shook up”. The next seismic disaster occurred almost in our time, in 1992, the so-called Dahshur earthquake or the Cairo earthquake. The power was only 5.8 points, but the main destruction fell on the densely populated suburbs of Cairo and neighboring provinces. As a result, 561 people died and more than 12,000 were injured.
So, overall, Egypt has a lot to worry about. Cairo and Sharm el-Sheikh are located in the fault zone, as well as “risky” Antalya. By the way, the Red Sea, beloved by our tourists, is also considered an earthquake hazard zone.