The tremor was registered at 00:04 GMT 24 kilometres (about 15 miles) northeast of the city of Bejaia. The epicentre of the earthquake was located at a depth of 10 kilometres.
There are no reports of any victims or damage caused by the earthquake. No tsunami alert has been declared.
Map of felt reports received so far following the #earthquake M5.2 in Northern Algeria 40 min ago pic.twitter.com/ofaayXFeqj
— EMSC (@LastQuake) March 18, 2021
Algeria lies in a seismologically active region as the Mediterranean Sea is a border between the African and Eurasian plates. The movement of the African plate to the north – where the Eurasian plate lies – sometimes causes earthquakes and has already resulted in the formation of several mountain ranges in Europe, including the Alps.
#Algeria 🇩🇿
— Carlos Juan Semidey (@QuakeChaser35) March 18, 2021
Se produce fuerte sismo M 6.0 al norte de Algeria, a 84 km al NNO de Setif y réplica M 5.1 a 10 km de profundidad. Se pueden esperar réplicas de moderadas a fuertes dentro de las próximas horas. pic.twitter.com/GTlaPS3Lmv