Muscat: A strong quake that shook Balochistan in Pakistan and parts of India was also felt by residents in Muscat although the epicentre of the earthquake was about 800-km away from Muscat.
“We recorded earthquake of magnitude of 7.2 on Richter scale at our centre,” Dr Essa Al Hussain, Director at the Sultan Qaboos University’s (SQU), Earthquake Monitoring Centre, told Gulf News.
He said that the epicentre of the quake was far from Muscat but can be felt here. The SQU Earthquake Monitoring Centre recorded that the earthquake struck 233 km southeast of Dalbandin, in Pakistan’s western province of Balochistan.
“We have received calls from residents saying they felt minor tremors,” Dr Al Hussain added.
“We felt the mild tremors when glass cabinet began to rattle in our office and tables also shook,” Sandeep Mahajan, a senior insurance officer with an insurance Company, told Gulf News.
Kajal Ramaiya, who lived on fourth floor of a residential building in the Wadi Al Kabir district of Muscat, told Gulf News that she also felt minor tremors and had to regain balance as she was standing. “It may have lasted a few seconds but it did shake things in the house,” she stressed.
In May, tremors were felt in Oman’s port town of Khasab, about 250 nautical miles northwest to Muscat, when earthquake hit Iran.
