UAE residents report feeling tremors as 5.3-magnitude quake hits Iran

An earthquake that hit the south of Iran on Thursday evening was ‘felt slightly’ in the UAE. However, the 5.3-magnitude quake did not have any effect in the emirates, the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) confirmed.

The authority recorded the earthquake at 5.59pm.

Some residents took to Twitter to say they felt the quake. “Was that an earthquake in Dubai?” one user posted. “Thought it was just breeze shaking my chandelier.”

In response to this tweet, several residents — including one from Sharjah — said they felt it, too. “I thought I was the only who felt the quake.”

Multiple earthquakes that rocked Iran earlier this year were felt in the UAE. While most of them lasted a few seconds only, some had residents come out of their homes after furniture and chandeliers shook.

In an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times earlier, Khalifa Alebri, head of the Tsunami Early Warning Centre at the NCM, had said that UAE residents needn’t worry about aftershocks because “most of the energy is already released in the first major earthquake”.

• UAE weather: Humid night; temperature to drop to 22°C