Beirut, Lebanon: A moderate earthquake rattled southern Lebanon on Tuesday, causing some panic among local residents but no major damage, the meteorological department said.

The quake, which hit the southern port city of Tyre and surrounding villages, registered up to 4.2 on the Richter scale. Some residents in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and neighboring Syria and Israel, also felt the earthquake.

The Lebanese Bhannes Center for Seismic and Scientific Research said the quake struck at 1:47 a.m. local time (2347 GMT), and its epicenter was located about six kilometers (about 4 miles) east of Tyre. The state-run National News Agency said it lasted several seconds and sent panicked residents to the streets.

The quake caused some cracks in the foundations of a few buildings in Tyre and shattered some windows, the agency said. No one was injured.

In Syria, the state-run news agency quoted the director of the National Earthquakes Center as saying that an earthquake registering up to 3.7 on the Richter scale and centered in southern Lebanon was felt by some residents in Damascus.

Rami Hofstetter, director of the Geophysical Institute of Israel, said that the tremor also was felt in Israel as far south as the suburbs of Tel Aviv. No injuries or damage were reported. Hofstetter said the quake was along the Roum Fault, which connects with the larger Syrian-African Rift.