The National Seismic Center for Earthquakes and Volcanoes (NSCEV) is keeping a close watch on five locations at risk for seismic activity in the Kingdom, a report by the Saudi Geological Society said in a recent report.
“The NSCEV project covers the locations of Harat Al-Shaqah, Harat Rehat and Harat Khaybar in the Madinah Province, Harat Owaired in Tabuk and and Harat Hotaimah in Hail,” an annual report by the SGS, which was submitted to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, said.
The SGS has built local tracking stations in these five locations.
The report said the SGS built 10 stations to track seismic activity in Harat Khaybar and five stations in Harat Al-Shaqah. A network has already linked 14 such stations.
The SGS also found a steady temperature level during a comparative study of thermal fluctuations in 190 wells in 2011 and 103 wells in 2010. It also found that high temperatures prevailed in locations close to the ancient volcano site on the north side of Rehat and Abu Al-Doud. Maps highlighting heat distribution have also been drawn up.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources studied the reports on volcanic and seismic activities and developed a project to establish, update, equip and integrate seismic stations in the Kingdom on the basis of an earlier decision made by the Council of Ministers, a local newspaper reported Saturday.
Hani Zahran, director of the NSCEV, said in a statement in April that the Kingdom built 117 seismic stations and that the construction of more stations was under way.
Advanced technology is employed at the NSCEV to collect data from the national seismic centers across the Kingdom, he said.
No serious earthquake has been recorded in the Kingdom in the recent past except for one measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale in the Al-Ais area in Madinah and aftershocks in the Eastern Province following an Iranian tremor measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale.
SGS monitors seismic activity in five regions
