Magnitude 5.6 earthquake strikes near Egypt's Suez

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook eastern Egypt early Monday, prompting authorities to activate response plans although there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Tremors were felt across a wide area, waking AFP journalists in Cairo and reaching as far as El-Arish near Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip.

The quake struck about 40 kilometers north of the city of Suez at 3 am (0000 GMT) and was followed by five aftershocks, according to Egypt's National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, which revised an earlier estimate of magnitude 5.2.

The U.S. Geological Survey put the shallow tremor at 5.0, revising down a previous reading.

Egypt's Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar ordered emergency response plans activated across the country and directed ambulance services to be at "maximum levels of preparedness".

Authorities said three families were evacuated from a collapsing building in the northern Cairo neighborhood of Rod al-Farag.

The Egyptian Red Crescent received another report of a collapsed balcony near the quake's epicenter in Suez.

The rescue organization urged residents to stay away from old and dilapidated buildings, which are common in many of Egypt's working-class neighborhoods.

Egypt's health ministry reported only one injury.

Intense earthquakes are uncommon in the northeast African country.

The nation's deadliest quake in modern history struck in October 1992, when a magnitude 5.8 quake shook the capital, killing more than 500 people and displacing thousands.