It was felt by residents around the country around 3.15am…

The National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) reported an earthquake on Thursday, March 17 at 3.15am (UAE time). The earthquake took place in South of Iran but was felt by residents in the UAE.

The NCMS stated that the earthquake measured 5.0 on the Richter scale.

Residents reported feeling sight tremors from the earthquake, although currently no injuries or damages have been reported.

Several Tweets from residents in the area suggested that the buildings shook slightly which was ‘scary’ as they ‘didn’t know what was happening’ at the time.

Another resident claimed to hear noises and felt the shaking from the 16th floor of her apartment.

A different resident stated that her building is being inspected to check for cracks of any ‘structural stress the building may have suffered.’ She added that the tremors were strong and lasted almost a minute.

Prior to this, the NCM reported a 7.4 magnitude earthquake on the East coast of Japan around 7pm (UAE time) on March 16, 2022.

Does Dubai ever get earthquakes?

Dubai doesn’t lie on a fault line, which means the risk of an earthquake is extremely low – but that doesn’t mean we don’t experience minor tremors from time to time.

However, the UAE is located on the edge of the Arabian Tectonic Plate, which pushes against the Eurasian Plate. The boundary of those plates – the Zagros mountain belt of Iran – is one of the most seismically active regions in the world.

Because of Iran’s proximity to the UAE, when it is hit by a big quake, we typically experience mild to moderate tremors (and because of Dubai’s high-rises, they tend to be felt more strongly in the emirate).

The last time an earthquake was felt in the UAE was on September 6, 2020 when a minor earthquake took place in Fujairah on Friday morning, September 4 at 6.08am. It measured 3.4 on the Richter Scale and took place just on the coast of Fujairah, close to popular staycation spot Snoopy Island. Back in February 2019, a 5.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded coming from Iran, with tremors felt in Ras Al Khaimah, Downtown Dubai, Deira and Academic City.

Images: Getty Images