Truth Speak

Lucky u - rain rain we miss the rain!!

Face81

Fuj has had 2 days of storms.......we had a cloudy day today.......our tun is coming.........watch the skies........

Heart of gold

I will be waiting, but must remember to bring in the white wash as I hear the rain is dirty!

Truth Speak

No - you've got it wrong - its purple !!

Beduoin_Boy

Yesterday it was so great, No sun!! It was so wonderful the weather in the morning.

Face81

LOL..The first rains are always dirty....... the atmosphere gets a good washing and down comes all the suspended dust partices........ after that the air will be clear and visibility will be better than excellent. good indicator of rain will be a rise in temps and the brewing of a dust storm......thats how the first rains usually arrive.

Keep an eye on those skies!

deelited

This the best thread ever. I've applied for a job there and am hoping to be there in the next couple of months. I'm really excited about the prospect now!

k3atie

ggod luck with you ur application, me too still trying to find a job, you should check out some of the other pics!


ps face81, its stilllllllll raining in uk - Hope its not arrived in dubai as yet . . . .

philipz

Nice pics BB. When I was setting up the UAE guide section of my website, I went all around the UAE taking pics. Unfortunately, when I got to Al Ain, it was dark and didnt take any pics.

Beduoin_Boy

Where did you go to? Jebel is illuminated with lights! actually its even better at night, trust me.I hope you consider fujairah as well.

Face81

not in Dubai yet......though we are enjoying daya fter day of partly cloudy conditions........ loads of rain and storms in the Eastern mountains though......... cant wait till we get a good soaking......wont be long now......

Heart of gold

Are we in for a downpour then Face? Cos if we are then I may have to do what I did in the Uk when the heavens open ..... And no Im not telling you on the board!!!

Face81

lol.....relax.....no downpours as far as i know....... partly cloudy conditions indicate change is in the air, thats all.........will be sure to tell u when the first rains are imminent.......relax...........i am more worried about the IMMINENT quake of 5-6.5 in Dibba! :scared: see todays papers. :scared:

Seismic study confirms six tremors in Dibba Al Fujairah
By Hani M. Bathish
23 October 2004


SHARJAH
Three tremors on Thursday night and another three early yesterday morning, each measuring two on the Richter scale, have been recorded by the seismic monitoring equipment in Dibba Al Fujairah, according to Dr Azem S. Al Homoud, Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Earthquake Observatory at the American University of Sharjah (AUS).

Since last Friday (October 15), Dibba Al Fujairah has been experiencing small tremors daily. Dr Azem said the intensity and frequency of tremors is not decreasing, although they are so minor that apart from a little shaking, they have not resulted in any damage.

We had dispatched monitoring equipment to Dibba Municipality and we have been recording these activities. These are small earthquakes with intensity of three and less on the Mercalli scale, and two and less on the Richter scale. These are occurring on the Dibba faultline, the major active tectonic faultline that traverses the eastern UAE from North to South. The length of the fault is more than 100km and is capable of producing earthquakes of up to 6 to 6.5 on the Richter scale, based on similar such faults around the world,� Dr Azem said.

In March 2002, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 on the Richter scale occurred near Masafi where the Dibba faultline passes. However, major destructive earthquakes are occurring in the southwest of Iran as a result of the collision between the Arabian Plate and the Eurasian plate at the Zagros faultline.

The band of earthquake accumulation there is in the order of hundreds of kilometres, which includes the northern part of the UAE. We are therefore not far from epicentres of destructive earthquakes. The study on the scenarios of earthquake risk in the UAE that I conducted over the past five years, covers major UAE cities, Dibba included, Dr Azem said.



An earthquake of 6 on the Richter scale would cause tens of thousands of casualties and destroy 90 per cent of the buildings in the town of Dibba, Dr Azem estimates, as well as result in massive economic losses.

He said the tremors were down to local tectonic movement on the Dibba fault, which is connected to the Zagros fault a major fault that lies on the opposite side of the Arabian Gulf in Iran.

"There is energy on Dibba fault that needs to be released and that will cause an earthquake in the area," he said.

Dr Al Homoud called upon the authorities to put emergency plans in place. "Civil defence, police and hospitals should be capable of handling any bigger emergencies and should be well equipped. There is an immediate need to start scientific research on this issue to analyse the situation," he said.

"We should develop an earthquake code, launch awareness programmes for people, train volunteers and civil defence people, set up more quake monitoring centres, impose design codes on building construction and check the vulnerability of important buildings such as hospitals and schools," he added.

It is a national issue and should be handled at a national level, Dr Al Homoud said. "A general survey of buildings, such as schools, colleges, hospitals and other important and strategic points, should be carried out to strengthen their structure to resist any quake," he said.

High rise buildings were being constructed following the earthquake code in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and some in Sharjah, but the real danger lies with the smaller buildings and houses.

There have been reports of cracks in some houses due to recent tremors in Dibba.

"People in the area should be educated about how they should behave in case of an earthquake. There should be an evacuation plan and also efforts should be made to form a regional task force to act in case of such disasters.

"At least two to three tremors measuring 1 to 2.5 on the Richter scale have been felt every day by residents in Dibba since October 16," he said.

He said that following the recent tremors, the AUS has already installed a seismograph the first in the UAE in Fujairah. This continuously monitors the situation and has so far recorded at least nine tremors since it was installed five days ago.

"We also installed an accelerometer, another quake monitoring device, in Dibba three days ago and it has so far recorded at least ten local tremors," he said.

Officials in Fujairah and Dibba were constantly in touch with AUS and were monitoring the situation. "We also installed another seismograph at the AUS last week to monitor any movements," he said.

Dr Al Homoud said there were at least three reasons to take the threat of earthquakes in UAE seriously:

* International analysts have said the hazard in the UAE is about the same as that in parts of California, Turkey and Iran.

* Two tectonic faults run through the UAE. One of these runs along the West Coast of the country, right through the major cities from Abu Dhabi to Ras Al Khaimah. The second one, Dibba fault, enters land near the southern borders of Oman, coming from the north and runs southward to the centre of the Arabian Peninsula.

* An earthquake with a magnitude of five has already occurred in Masafi, about 23km from Fujairah, on March 11, 2002.

Jellybean

:scared: My son has a school Dibba trip coming up :scared: