00:00Peace be upon you and God's mercy, Rabbi Alawal.
00:04But I will ignore it.
00:06Since when?
00:08An earthquake struck Egypt on Tuesday, August 18, 2024
00:13at 3 o'clock in the morning
00:16with a magnitude of 5 or 5.2 on the Richter scale.
00:26And you know that this earthquake or the effects of this earthquake
00:30reached several areas in Egypt.
00:33The epicenter of the earthquake was near the Gulf of Suez
00:38or near the Egyptian Suez Canal.
00:43And until now, some very mild aftershocks are still hitting Egypt
00:49even at this moment.
00:51But they remain like tremors, like 2 or 2.1 on the scale.
00:57Some people in Egypt can feel them in Suez, Ismailia, Cairo, Giza,
01:04and Calubia, the nearby areas.
01:11The areas include the cities within these Egyptian governorates.
01:14But as I told you, only a few people actually feel them.
01:17But honestly, this thing, this earthquake motivated me
01:22to go back and look at the history of earthquakes in Egypt,
01:27to see the history of earthquakes in Egypt,
01:30and whether there have been earthquakes similar to this one.
01:34Honestly, I am reviewing some historical events
01:38that happened in Egypt.
01:39For example, today when the earthquake struck,
01:42there was a series of strong earthquakes that hit Spain.
01:46Today, a series of earthquakes hit Spain for the first time.
01:50And as we know, Spain overlooks the Mediterranean Sea.
01:54And maybe this poses a threat to the entire Mediterranean region.
01:59It's important not to get carried away.
02:02The earthquake struck on August 3rd.
02:05When I went back through the history of earthquakes,
02:08I discovered that there was a very strong earthquake
02:11that struck as well.
02:12At the same time, also in the month of August,
02:16an earthquake struck Egypt.
02:19It was perhaps the strongest earthquake to ever hit Egypt,
02:23specifically the Suez earthquake on the 26th,
02:27which was in August.
02:29That earthquake was on the 8th of August,
02:31but specifically it struck in the year 1847.
02:381847, in the Gregorian calendar,
02:41which means about 109 years ago from now.
02:45At that time,
02:46Egypt witnessed one of the most destructive earthquakes in its history,
02:51or not in its entire history,
02:53but specifically during the 19th century.
02:56We're not saying in all of history,
02:58but it was one of the strongest earthquakes
03:00that hit Egypt during the 19th century.
03:02The earthquake at that time struck on August 8th,
03:07or maybe August 7th,
03:09specifically between 8 o'clock and 8.30,
03:12and its magnitude was 5.8 on the Richter scale.
03:17Do you remember the initial magnitude of the earthquake?
03:20Suez was at 20.
03:21In 2026, it was 5.7,
03:25while this earthquake on August 7th, 1847,
03:29had a magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter scale.
03:34Its epicenter at that time,
03:37the epicenter of this very strong earthquake
03:40that hit Egypt back in 1847,
03:44was actually in the Egyptian city of Fayyut.
03:48And of course, at that time,
03:50I'm not making this up.
03:51God willing, I'll remember to show you
03:53some historical documents on the screen,
03:56because we found historical books
03:58that talk about this subject.
03:59God willing, I'll remember to show them to you.
04:02That earthquake,
04:04according to historical documents,
04:07was felt across wide areas of the country
04:10and caused massive destruction.
04:12It says that in Qayyum,
04:15which was the center of the earthquake,
04:18about 3,000 houses were completely destroyed,
04:21approximately.
04:22The documents also mentioned the number as 42.
04:2742 mosques in Greater Cairo were affected.
04:31I think they mean Cairo and Giza,
04:34maybe also Kalubia or Sharqia
04:36as part of the Greater Cairo region.
04:46In the Greater Cairo region,
04:49about 1,000 houses were damaged,
04:52and important neighborhoods in the Egyptian capital,
04:55Cairo witnessed destruction,
04:57such as Al-Gamalia, Al-Kala, Al-Azbaqeya,
05:01and also the city of Fustad in Cairo.
05:07They say there was severe damage
05:10and the collapse of many houses at that time.
05:14Even Alexandria, although it's far away,
05:16also felt the strength of this earthquake.
05:19They also mentioned the effects
05:21and the power of this earth.
05:24It reached Asyut Governorate in Upper Egypt.
05:28Asyut Governorate is one of the governorates
05:31of Upper Egypt.
05:36At that time, according to the sources,
05:39and I have some doubts
05:40about the accuracy of the statistics,
05:42they said that 185 people died.
05:45I expect the number is higher,
05:46but we are limited to these historical documents
05:49from that time.
05:51You know, in 1847,
05:53recording deaths of statistics
05:54was somewhat difficult.
05:56For example, if someone died in Cairo,
05:59people in Giza might not know about it
06:00because, as you know,
06:02transportation was very limited at that time.
06:04During the days of Muhammad Ali,
06:06I'm not really sure,
06:07during Muhammad Ali's time.
06:08Just imagine.
06:10Anyway, that's not our focus.
06:14What was really dangerous about this earthquake
06:17is that thousands of families were displaced.
06:19So what caused all this destruction?
06:23Even though it was a 5.8 earthquake,
06:26as we see at this time in 2026,
06:29we've talked a lot about 5.8 earthquakes,
06:32but they don't usually destroy
06:34this huge number of homes.
06:36What caused such a large number of homes
06:38to be destroyed in Egypt back then
06:41and displaced thousands and thousands of families?
06:45There's a clear reason.
06:47Even though the earthquake's magnitude was 5.8,
06:51it was the duration of the earthquake
06:53that made all the difference at that time.
06:56They say the earthquake lasted,
06:59according to historical records from that time,
07:01from one to two minutes.
07:03The August 3rd, 2026,
07:06Egypt earthquake lasted about 20 to 25 seconds.
07:10People were shocked,
07:12people were scared,
07:14and people rushed out into the streets.
07:16It caused a huge panic among everyone.
07:20So imagine if the earthquake had lasted
07:22as long as the Fayyum one,
07:24from one to two minutes.
07:27What's strange is that the epicenter
07:30of the Fayyum earthquake
07:31is also somewhat close
07:33to the epicenter of the Cairo earthquake,
07:36almost in the same area.
07:38Look at the epicenter of the earthquake.
07:43The 1847 one was almost in the same area
07:47as the epicenter of the October 12, 1992 earthquake,
07:51which also hit Egypt near a place called Dashor.
07:55They call it the Dashor earthquake.
07:57And coincidentally,
07:59it had the same magnitude,
08:015.8 on the Richter scale.
08:03Dashor and Fayyum are almost in the same area,
08:06meaning they're on the same fault line.
08:10And there's no need to tell you
08:12that during the 1992 earthquake,
08:15there were also heavy casualties
08:17and massive destruction in Egypt.
08:21The epicenter of the August 3rd earthquake,
08:24which was in Suez,
08:25is only 150 kilometers away
08:28from the epicenter of the Fayyum earthquake
08:30in 1847.
08:33Fayyum is southwest of Cairo,
08:35and Suez is northeast of Cairo.
08:38I just wanted to mention
08:39and show you these historical documents,
08:42wishing safety to our people in Egypt.
08:44That's all from me.
08:45Ahmad Aldir is the producer
08:47and presenter of the show,
08:48What's Happening on Block Air.
08:49You're welcome.
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