Dubai residents feel tremors as earthquake strikes in Arabian Gulf

Dubai residents reported feeling tremors on Thursday evening as an earthquake was recorded in the Arabian Gulf.

The UAE's National Centre for Meteorology confirmed the incident about an hour after it occurred, putting the strength of the quake at 4.6 on the Richter Scale.

The Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said the quake, measuring M4.9, struck 94 kilometres north west of Ajman at 7.44pm.

A map tweeted by the centre showed the areas which felt the tremors, including coastal areas in the northern emirates, Sharjah, plus Dubai both north of the creek and further south. It added that the estimated population in the affected area - which included Bandar Lengeh in Iran, was 3.1 million people.

Residents took to social media to share their experiences and see if the earth was, in fact, moving. There were no initial reports of damage or injuries.

This is the second time in recent weeks that the UAE has experienced an earthquake.

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On October 21, a magnitude 5.7 quake in Southern Iran was felt in Ras Al Khaimah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. There were no reports of damage or injury on this occasion too.

The events are caused when the Arabian and Eurasian plates collide and the fault line runs across the Zagros Mountains in south-western Iran.

Elsewhere, a powerful earthquake struck the southern Philippines on Thursday, killing at least five people.

The 6.5 magnitude quake hit the island of Mindanao, the US Geological Survey said