This article, if correct, suggests that the earthquake was considerably less strong than the initial report indicated:
May 9, 2007 -- An earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale occurred on Tuesday in the Madiya region, about 100 kms to the south of Algerian capital, causing no human or material damages, Algerian disaster and emergency services was quoted as saying by the
Algerian News Agency on Tuesday.
The earthquake occurred around 07:56 local time Tuesday morning in the region's mountainous zone, according to the services.
Algeria, which is located on the junction of African and Euro-Asian plates, is a highly active seismic-prone country.
An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale hit Algeria in May 2003, causing some 2,300 deaths and injuring more than 11,000 people. The material damages were estimated at 5 billion U.S. dollars.