A sharp earthquake rattled windows and shook tall buildings in several parts of Israel today sending some residents into civil defense shelters. No damage was reported. The tremors coincided with a heavy sandstorm that blew in from Egypt and covered the entire country with a fine coat of dust that reduced visibility. Warnings were issued to aircraft.
The earthquake shocks were felt in the Beisan Valley, in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and were most severe in the southern part of the country. Hebrew University seismologists said the quake was centered southwest of Jerusalem, near the Red Sea and had an intensity of five on the Richter scale.
(Earthquake shocks were reported from Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey today. The Egyptian Ministry of Interior said nine persons were injured by tremors that damaged scores of houses and a mosque in Cairo and elsewhere in the country. Lebanese authorities said the quake was felt in Ksara village, 30 miles from Beirut, but not in the capital itself. Turkish officials reported a heavy quake 75 miles southwest of Ankara. The U.S. Government’s Environmental Science Service in Washington rated it at 8.9 on the Richter scale. Ethiopia was hit by a heavy earthquake two days ago which reportedly killed 23 persons and injured 160. A village on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily was shaken by an earthquake today following a night of increased volcanic activity in the mountain. The head of the Seismological Institute in Uppsala, Sweden, Prof. Marcus Baath, reported a quake measuring seven on the Richter scale centered in the northern part of the Red Sea. He said quakes of that magnitude were rare in the area.)
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