Algeria's northwestern province of Oran jolted by 5.1 magnitude earthquake

By Esat Firat

ORAN, Algeria (AA) - A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck areas of Algeria’s northwestern Oran province Sunday.

The quake occurred at 8.17 p.m. local time (1917GMT), according to a statement by Algeria's Center of Research in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Geophysics (CRAAG).

Oran’s Civil Defense Directorate in a statement said teams immediately carried out a thorough reconnaissance operation and found cracks in some homes in the city of Arzew.

No casualties due to the earthquake were reported in the statement.

The north of Algeria, especially the coastline facing the Mediterranean, constantly witnesses small to medium earthquakes.

In May 2003, an earthquake in the city of Boumerdes on the Mediterranean coast killed around 2,000 people.

The 19th Mediterranean Games (Oran 2022), kicked off in the city of Oran on Saturday with athletes from 26 countries taking part.

*Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev from Ankara