UAE feels quake in southern Iran

ALBAWABA - A strong quake that jolted southern Iran late Wednesday was felt across the Persian Gulf in in the United Arab Emirates, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center said.

No casualties were reported, according to Iran International.

With a 5.7 magnitude, the earthquake hit Iran’s Kong city in the Hormozgan province. but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, the Anadolu news reported. 

Several social media posts said the quake was felt in different parts of the UAE, including the cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

According to the Seismological Center at the University of Tehran, the quake that struck at 6.47 p.m. local time (1517GMT) was at a depth of 16 kilometers (9.94 miles), the Turkish news agency also stated.

Iran is "crisscrossed by major geological fault lines, and is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world" because it is located where the Arabian, Indian, and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, Iran International said. Iran has a history of massive earthquakes in recent decades, with "some killing tens of thousands of people, and causing billions in damages, such as the magnitude 6.6 quake in Kerman province in 2003 that killed 31,000 people and flattened the ancient city of Bam," it added.