Twin earthquakes strike northern Arabian Gulf

The tremors were 10km south of Bushehr, where Iran's nuclear power plant is located

The earthquakes were recorded 10km south of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, pictured. AFP Photo / Satellite image

Two earthquakes struck the northern Arabian Gulf on Sunday.

The first, measuring 4.7, occurred at a depth of 10km off the coast of Bushehr in Iran at 6.49am.

A second, with a magnitude of 5, struck the same area and depth at 8.25am.

There was no impact on the UAE, said Khamis Al Shamsi, director of the National Centre of Meteorology’s Seismology department.

You do not see too many in the sea, maybe two to five per year

Khamis Al Shamsi,
National Centre of Meteorology

The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Iran’s first commercial nuclear reactor, is located on the coast nearby.

Iran is one of the world’s most seismically active countries. Most of its earthquakes occur on land.

There are only a handful of quakes in the waters of the Arabian Gulf each year.

“You do not see too many in the sea, maybe two to five per year,” said Mr Al Shamsi.

“An earthquake of that magnitude would not cause a tsunami. These quakes are not very strong [in comparison to the one in Tonga, which was 7.4 magnitude]. They are moderate.

“Also the Arabian Gulf is shallow, compared with the Pacific and Atlantic.”

For that reason, it is unlikely there would ever be a tsunami in the Arabian Gulf, said Mr Al Shamsi.

But it did happen in the Arabian Sea in 1945, due to a strong earthquake off Pakistan with a 8.1 magnitude.

A resulting tsunami was recorded in Oman and even Seychelles, 3,400km away.

An earthquake with a 6.3 magnitude struck Bushehr province in 2013. At least 37 people were killed and 850 were injured. It was felt in many countries in the region, including the UAE.

Iran regularly suffers destructive quakes, which are occasionally felt in the UAE.

Since 1900, at least 126,000 people have died in Iran as a result of earthquakes.

Tonga tsunami: in pictures

A handout satellite image made available by the Tonga Meteorological Services, Government of Tonga shows an explosive eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, in the South Pacific kingdom of Tonga. The undersea volcano erupted on January 13 and again two days later. EPA

A handout image captured by NOAA's GOES-17 satellite and made available by the Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Branch of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/NESDIS shows an explosive eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano. Geologists in Tonga said the volcano continued to spew ash. EPA

The eruption of an underwater volcano off Tonga, which triggered a tsunami warning for several South Pacific island nations, as captured by the NOAA GOES-West satellite. Reuters

This file photo taken on December 21, 2021 shows white gaseous clouds rising from an eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano from the Patangata coastline, near the Tongan capital, Nuku’alofa. Frightened Tongans fled to higher ground after the latest eruption of the volcano, heard in neighbouring countries, triggered tsunami warnings in the South Pacific. AFP

A white plume rises over Tonga when the underwater volcano erupted, in this still image obtained from an animated GIF from the Co-operative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere and NOAA. Reuters

This satellite image taken by Himawari-8, a Japanese weather satellite, and released by the agency shows the undersea eruption, which sent large waves crashing across the shore and people rushing to higher ground. AP