5.5 quake sparks panic among western Algeria's inhabitants

Western city of Algeria was hit Friday by an earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale, according to geophysics centre.

• The quake which struck 30 km north-west Oran at 9:02 pm (GMT+1) sparked panic among residents pushing them to leave their houses for a while.
• Sources from the Civil Protection department said they intervened to rescue 11 injured including one who had thrown himself from a second floor.
• Except partial collapses of old building, no serious damages were recorded.
• On January 9th 2008, a 5.3-maghnitude-earthquake rocked Oran killing a woman and causing considerable damages.