UAE not affected by Iran quake

The UAE was not affected by a 5.5 magnitude earthquake which hit southern Iran, 200 km northeast of Ras Al Khaimah on Sunday afternoon, according to the National Center of Meteorology and Seismology in the UAE (NCMS).

'Measuring 3 degrees on the Mercalli Scale (which measures the intensity of an event), the quake struck  at a depth of 20km in southern Iran,'' the report said, emphasising that the UAE was not affected by the quake.
 
According to the NCMS another earthquake was recorded in southern Iran on Saturday (May 11, 2013) with magnitude 6.3 earthquake on Richter scale, at 06:08 am (local time). The intensity was 3 on Mercalli scale and was felt in the northern part of UAE. 

NCMS also says it has so far recorded 19 earthquakes as aftershocks activity till now. But said there has been no effect on UAE from this activity. This region was hit by magnitude 4.9 earthquake on Thursday (May 09, 2013) at 12:01 pm.

Although the seismic activity in Iran is pretty high as it lies within an active seismic zone, the Alpine-Himalayan belt, UAE is considered relatively safe.

Mohammed Mashroom, Director of the Survey department at the Dubai Municipality recently told Emirates 24l7, that most buildings in Dubai including the old structures can withstand tremors that are caused by earthquakes occurring in Iran and in distant areas such as Pakistan.

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