On 12 October 1992, around 3.10pm, a 20 seconds earthquake occurred around 18 km southwest from the center of Cairo. This earthquake was the strongest recorded near the capital of Egypt. The magnitude of the earthquake was 5.9 on the Richter scale.
It was a surprise to experts and geophysicists. Cairo is estimated 250 miles away from the nearest plate boundary, thus the region that generates most earthquakes is far away, so few scientists pay attention to Cairo.