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TIME - Man of the Year
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CompactPublishing-TimeMagazine-TimeManOfTheYear-Win31MSDOS.iso
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1993-04-08
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THE WEEK, Page 22WORLDEgypt's Killer Quake
Over 500 are dead and thousands injured, but the Sphinx survives
Measuring 5.9 on the richter scale, the earthquake that shook
Cairo last Monday was only a medium-size tremor by world
standards. But Cairo's densely overcrowded neighborhoods, the
rickety state of much of the city's older housing and the shoddy
construction of some of the city's newer buildings combined to
turn it into an unprecedented national disaster. The 40-second
tremor, felt as far away as Jerusalem, sent Cairo residents
scrambling into the streets. As casualty reports flowed in from
the capital and outlying provinces, Egypt's President Hosni
Mubarak hastily interrupted a trip to China. Egyptian officials
estimate that more than 500 people have been killed and 6,500
injured. Many dazed residents remained so panic stricken that
they spent the rest of the week camping out of doors.
Arab states ranging from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to Libya
quickly pledged up to $180 million in aid, and Japan promised
to donate $600,000. Although most of Cairo's more modern
buildings came through the quake relatively unharmed, there were
scenes of terrible devastation, particularly in the older
neighborhoods. But Egypt's ancient monuments, including the
Sphinx and the Pyramids, survived unscathed.