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Saudi Arabian News Updates |
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2 May 2009 MADINAH: More than 1,200 tremors, most
of which were very weak, have occurred in and around
Madinah over the past several days, the National
Center for Earthquakes and Volcanoes at the Saudi
Geological Survey Authority said today 2nd of May
2009.
According to the center, the tremors had magnitudes
of between 0.78 and 3.7 on the Richter scale. Some
residents, especially in the village of Al-Ais, felt
tremors on Thursday and Friday.
Hani bin Mahmoud Zahran, director of the center,
said Bahrat Al-Shaqqah was the epicenter of the
earthquakes, which began on April 18 and are still
continuing.
He said the strongest tremors measured 3.7 degrees
on the Richter scale.
He added that villagers in Hadmah, Al-Qarrasa, Al-Ameed,
Al-Faraa and Al-Sahla felt six tremors. Zahran said
the Civil Defense immediately dispatched specialized
technicians to carry out thermostatic measurements at
Bahrat Al-Shaqqah and install a monitoring station
there.
He said the authority was monitoring the situation
around the clock and was currently collecting data to
understand the nature of the tremors and if they were
connected to volcanic activity.
Fire damages Makkah tower
In a separate incident, a fire at King Abdul Aziz
Endowment Towers here yesterday gutted six floors of
Sara Tower in the complex located close to the Grand
Mosque. No deaths or injuries were reported in the
blaze that was quickly contained by Civil Defense.
Eyewitnesses said the fire broke out soon after Asr
prayer while some workers in the building were welding
iron rods on wooden scaffoldings. The fire damaged a
large part of the building, which is under
construction.
This is the second fire in the building in six
months. The first fire, which burned for 10 hours,
consumed nine floors of Hajer Tower.
Maj. Gen. Adel Zamzami, director general of Civil
Defense in the Makkah province, said his firemen had
rushed to the site soon after receiving information
about the fire.
“The fire broke out at the 14th floor and spread
mainly to floors above ,” Zamzami told Arab News. The
fire reached up to the 20th floor of the tower.
The seven-tower King Abdul Aziz endowment project,
which is being constructed by Saudi Binladin Group, is
one of the largest residential projects in the world.
Spread over an area of 1.4 million square meters, the
project will cost SR6 billion. Work on two towers —
Marwa and Safa — have been completed. |
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