JIZAN: Several mountainous towns experienced mild tremors when an earthquake measuring 3.8 on the Richter scale hit three administrative regions in Jizan about 6:47 a.m. on Sunday.
“On receiving reports of tremors from Dair, Eidaby and Faifa within 100 kilometers distance from the southern city of Jizan, we sent several rescue teams there, but they could not find any accidents or untoward incidents caused by the tremor,” said local Director of Jizan Civil Defense Brig. Hamoud Al-Hassani.
Abdullah Al-Amri, supervisor of Seismic Studies at the King Saud University in Riyadh, said in a statement that the magnitude of the tremors was strong enough to be felt.
Though Saudi Arabia resides on a land mass that is breaking away from the African continent and drifting toward the subcontinent, thus subject to frequent seismic activity, the country’s thick layer of sand acts as a kind of geologic mattress that absorbs most of the shocks.
