Magnitude 5.8 earthquake strikes off the coast of Oman

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck off the Arabian Sea coast of Oman on Thursday, according to the UAE National Centre of Meteorology (NCM).

NCM said the epicentre of the tremor was around 500km from the Omani port city of Sur at a depth of 10 km below the seabed. The quake, which struck in the morning, occurred in what is known as the Owen Fracture Zone Region.

The UAE Met Department said the country was not impacted by the quake and the tremor was not felt by residents in the country.

A 5.8 Magnitude Earthquake on Richter scale is recorded in Arabian Sea at 07:24, 13/04/2023 “UAE time” According to the NCM “National Seismic Network”

— المركز الوطني للأرصاد (@NCMUAE) April 13, 2023

Two slightly smaller quakes in the same region were reportedly registered in the early hours of April 4, with magnitudes of 5.1 and 5.2, and depths of 46km and 15km, respectively.

Oman earthquakes

Meanwhile, a 4.1-magnitude earthquake was reported in February near the sultanate’s port town of Duqm.

The Earthquake Monitoring Center (EMC) at Sultan Qaboos University said at the time that the perceived intensity of shaking in the area was light and no risk of destruction was reported.

The news of the second earthquake off the coast of Oman comes as the Middle East region is still recovering from the devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and neighbouring Syria in February, affecting more than over 24 million people.

Read: Rescue efforts continue a week after Turkey, Syria earthquakes