Did you notice any tremors?

The National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) reported a minor earthquake in Fujairah on Friday morning, September 4. At 6.08am an earthquake reaching a magnitude of 3.4 on the Richter Scale took place just on the coast of Fujairah, close to popular staycation spot Snoopy Island.

Residents reported feeling sight tremors from the earthquake, although 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.

Since then, two more earthquakes have been reported around the world. Both took place this morning, starting with one in Chile which had a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter Scale followed by another in Vanuatu Islands, in Oceania, with a magnitude of 6.4.

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 in February 2019, when a 5.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded coming from Iran, with tremors felt in Ras Al Khaimah, Downtown Dubai, Deira and Academic City.