UAE earthquake rumours denied

Rumours of a 'strong earthquake' due to hit the region between April 25-30 have been strongly denied by the UAE's National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS).

According to reports, Arabic text messages and social network posts claiming a powerful earthquake would shake the Middle East in the last week of April were making the rounds last week.

However, the NCMS issued a statement saying: "This is just a rumour. Earthquakes cannot be predicted."

[Related slideshow: Dubai buildings evacuated after tremors]

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) - the supposed source of the rumour - also denied the claim  in a statement carried by state news agency WAM.

"USGS has absolutely denied issuing any report predicting that a powerful earthquake could hit the UAE and GCC countries between 25 to 30 April," WAM reported, adding that USGS official, Wendy Baldwin, assured the public that no technology to predict earthquakes is yet available.

Baldwin "regretted the panic created", and reiterated that no such prediction is possible as an earthquake is natural seismic activity.

Earlier in the week, USGS had refuted the claim on their official twitter feed in an exchange with a concerned user.

NO NEED TO PANIC

The rumours come soon after the UAE and the Gulf region experienced two tremors in the past two weeks, originating from two powerful earthquakes in Iran.  However, officials have warned residents not to panic.

Sharjah ruler Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi urged residents not to panic over the quake rumours in his Sharjah TV show Direct Line, WAM reported.

Sheikh Sultan dismissed a tweet quoting USGS that an earthquake measuring 10 magnitude on the Richter scale could strike the Gulf as ''illogical, unacceptable because no one can predict when earthquake may strike''.

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