On the 12th of October, 1992 an earthquake of 5. 7 moment magnitude hit Dahshour (Egypt) and the surrounding area. The characteristics of the building stock exposed to this earthquake is firstly presented in the paper. Then, the Dahshour earthquake is discussed in terms of the lessons that can be learned by engineers. The paper presents a short description of the geotechnical effects and the observed patterns of damage of the existing building categories and monuments. Finally, a list of the most important conclusions is introduced
