Minor quake in Red Sea rattles Eilat

An earthquake measuring over 4 on the Richter scale has struck in the middle of the Red Sea, with shaking felt as far away as Eilat, authorities say.

Residents of the southern resort city of Eilat report feeling tremors, but no damage is reported.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center estimates the magnitude at 4.4 on the Richter scale while the Egyptian National Seismic Network puts it at 4.2.

The quake was centered some 11 kilometers off the coast of Nuweiba in the Sinai peninsula, at a depth of 19 kilometers, according to Egypt, which also reports that a sensor in Eilat picked up shaking at a 4.0 magnitude.

Israel has been tensing for years for a major earthquake, which are thought to strike the region around once a century.

The Red Sea sits on the Dead Sea Transform fault system, a major active tectonic zone.

In 1995, a 7.2 magnitude quake struck in the same area, killing eight people in Egypt.