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Earthquake in Sea of Oman jolts Muscat
Earthquake in Sea of Oman jolts Muscat


Muscat: An earthquake measuring 3 on the Richter scale jolted the capital city Muscat at around 3pm on Saturday, confirmed a top official from the earthquake monitoring centre in Oman.

"The epicentre of the earthquake was 10 kilometres from Muscat at a depth of 10 kilometres in the Sea of Oman. Residents reported that some buildings trembled during the quake," Dr Essa Al Hussein, director of the Seismological Centre at the Sultan Qaboos University, told the Times of Oman.

Meanwhile, people in and around Muscat said they felt tremors at around 3pm, which lasted for a few seconds.

"We felt it in our flat. It was like somebody was carrying out construction work. As we knew there was nothing like that going on, we checked nearby areas. They also confirmed that there was a tremor," said Najeeb Moideen, a resident of Muscat.

Soon after the quake, many took to the social networking sites to express their feelings.

"Anybody else feel the shake? Candle sticks moving on table tops! We live in Shatti by the beach!," said a post by a Facebook user. Scientists studying seismic hazard assessment for Oman had said that the northernmost city of Khasab may be more vulnerable to quakes in terms of Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA).

PGA is based on calculations on how hard the earth shakes in a given geographic area.

This is because of the proximity of Khasab to Zagros and Makran seismic zones near the Strait of Hormuz. Earthquakes at a distance of 90km from Khasab contribute most to the hazard of this city.


Source:timesofoman


http://www.timesofoman.com/News/50436/Article-Oman-sea-earthquake-jolts-Muscat

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