ABSTRACT
Data reliability and heterogeneity are important factors in defining the level of seismicity and determining its future recurrency. Although information of historical earthquakes is documented it cannot be regarded as complete as much of the old Egyptian literature was lost creating gaps in the earthquake record. Egypt is considered one of the few regions of the world where evidence of historical earthquake activity has been documented. Data of earthquakes which occurred in and around this country during the period from 2800 BC to 1984 have been gathered from local and international sources. The aim of this work is to review critically the information of both the historical and instrumentally recorded principal earthquakes in Egypt and to investigate space and time distribution of the earthquake activity. In case of instrumentally recorded data errors in the epicenter location of moderate and large earthquakes are within 30 km.
