More tremors felt in Emirates

Another earthquake was felt in the Northern Emirates on Wednesday, just a week after an earthquake in Iran and its aftershocks struck the UAE.

ABU DHABI // Another earthquake was felt in the Northern Emirates Wednesday night, just a week after an earthquake in Iran and its aftershocks struck the UAE. A tremor measured at magnitude 4.3 struck at 11pm, according to the National Center for Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS). The quake's epicentre was near Bandar Abbas in southern Iran, and the shock was felt in Fujairah and Ras al Khaimah. There were no reports of damage or injuries in either country. On Sept 10, a magnitude-6.1 quake struck Gishm Island, near Bandar Abbas, Iran's main port. That quake and its 17 aftershocks, which killed 7 people and injured 47 in Iran, were felt as far away as Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where office buildings were evacuated. No serious injuries were reported in the UAE. "This was a separate quake; it was not another aftershock from the Gishm quake," Fatima al Kaabi, head of seismology at the NCMS said of Wednesday's tremor. "It was felt a little in the Northern Emirates." The seismic movement was detected by the UAE's five seismic monitoring stations, which have been operating since July. Before they were installed, there was no system to record seismic activity in the country. The frequency of seismic activity is nothing to be concerned about, Ms Kaabi said. "It is usual in this area of Bandar Abbas for there to be many quakes. It is a regular activity in the south of Iran." Iranian earthquakes often are felt in the UAE but distance minimizes their effects. A 3.4-magnitude earthquake struck Dibba, in Fujairah, in February, damaging some buildings. A magnitude-4.7 quake was felt in Ras al Khaimah last September. The most damaging Iranian earthquake in recent years was in 2003, when a magnitude-6.6 tremor struck the city of Bam. At least 30,000 people died. [e-mail]