5.6-magnitude hits suburbs of Aglerian capital

ALGIERS - An earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale shook the Algerian capital of Algiers Friday morning, with no casualties yet reported.

The quake happened at 05:11 am (0411GMT) local time and its epicenter was located 19 km to the north of the coastal region of Bologhine in the west of Algiers, according to Algeria's Astronomy, Astrophysics and Geophysics Research Center (CRAAG)

Vibrations could be felt in provinces including Blida, Boumerdes, Bouira, Tipaza, and Medea, and triggered panic among citizens, who left their homes to take refuge in the streets.

Director of CRAAG, Yelles Abdelkrim, told state-run radio that this quake is part of the normal cycle of seismic activity in the North African nation, adding that more than 80 minor replicas to the main quake were reported.

A spokesman from the firefighting department, Farouk Achour, said in a statement that neither material nor human casualties had been reported so far, other than 14 people who were slightly injured due to panic.

Achour added that an emergency response plan had been launched to take care of the quake's repercussions.

The country's last major earthquake was May 23, 2003, when a 6.8-magnitude quake killed more than 3000 people in Boumerdes and Algiers.