A magnitude-5.1 earthquake struck in the southwestern part of the Kingdom, centering on Jazan, officials said Friday.
Its impact was felt by inhabitants in the Asir and Najran regions, according to postings on social networking sites.
Hani Zahran, director-general of the National Center for Earthquakes and Volcanoes, told Arab News: “The earthquake occurred at around 6 p.m. local time. It measured 5.1 on the Richter scale and was 10 km deep.”
Citizens in both the Jazan and Asir provinces confirmed that they felt the earthquake’s impact at 6 p.m.
Many said that their doors and windows rattled as a result of the tremor, according to local media sources. A security source said that the Civil Defense operations room in Jazan received dozens of calls from citizens when the earthquake struck across the Jazan province.
Saudi Arabia registered more than 9,000 tremors in 2012, of which 6,212 - the highest number of tremors in a single region - were registered at Harrat Al-Shaqqah. Madinah follows, with 1,140 tremors.
Zahran explained that major areas for earthquake activity are found northwest and southwest of the Kingdom, the Gulf of Aqaba and north of the Red Sea. “However, these areas never witness more than weak tremors, and even the ones that are felt by inhabitants have a very small impact,” he said.
He highlighted the fact that the Kingdom does not witness significant volcanic activity. “There is no meaningful volcanic activity in the Kingdom, but the National Seismic Center for Earthquakes and Volcanoes (NSCEV) established networks for detecting seismic activity in many areas in Saudi Arabia in order to detect any deformation of the earth’s crust or gases,” Zahran said.
5.1-magnitude quake hits northeast Jazan
