Labourers working at the construction site at West Bay.
Doha: Many Filipinos in Qatar remained unfazed by mild aftershocks yesterday.
The Philippines is prone to constant tremors as it sits at the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is a vast belt of seismic and volcanic activity that stretches all around the Pacific Ocean.
A Filipino working at the Qtel Tower in Dafna said the tremors were not a reason to panic because based on his experience from a country frequented by earthquakes; the tremors were “not that strong.”
“The tremors occurred several minutes before 3pm while we were setting up for a video conference which was cancelled because of what happened,” he said.
He said it felt as if the building swung briefly, lasting for about 15 seconds and not that strong since the furniture in their office did not move and no objects fell either.
“The lift immediately stopped so the employees of various companies in the building took the stairs. Everyone waited outside the building for a while and went home after some instructions,” he said, adding it was a successful evacuation and no one was hurt.
Alberto, another Filipino, came to know of the news about the aftershocks through his daughter who called him from work.
“I did not feel the tremors because I’m used to strong earthquakes in the Philippines,” he said, adding some earthquakes in his country reach nearly 8 magnitude and have claimed many lives.
Light as they were, the tremors might have come as a shock and a cause of panic to many people living here because it was a rare occurrence in Qatar and the region, said Alex, another Filipino working in West Bay who previously worked in Saudi Arabia before coming here.
He said those who panicked were the ones who were staying on upper floors of high-rise buildings where the tremors were felt the most.
The Peninsula
