People evacuated at the West Bay waiting outside the buildings. Salim Matramkot
DOHA: The Meteorology Department has warned that more aftereffects of the powerful tremor that hit Iran yesterday could be felt here, hinting that there was no need for fear as Qatar was a low-risk country according to international seismological classification.
Yesterday’s ripples of the Iranian quake were felt mostly in the north-eastern parts of the country, the department said in a late night release.
Doha, it added, was located some 410km from the epicenter of the quake, which was 98 km south-east of Bushehr, a coastal city. The tremor hit at 2:52:50pm (11:52:50 GMT) yesterday, said the department.
Meanwhile, several buildings, particularly high-rise structures in the West Bay area of the city, were evacuated yesterday as powerful ripples of the tremor in Iran were felt here and that left people in a state of panic.
The aftershocks lasted for about 30 to 40 seconds.
There was no official confirmation of the duration of the aftereffects with the Ministry Interior briefly saying on its Twitter account that “some people felt the aftershocks of an earthquake in Bushehr city of Iran”.
The strongest affects were felt in the West Bay, home to Doha’s skyscrapers, with many residents of the area describing the experience as ‘scary’. Although no damages or injuries were reported by the Civil Defense, this was the closest many people had come to natural calamity in Qatar.
Many expatriates, who said they had experienced severe earthquakes in their home countries, however said they were unruffled. Frenzied workers in some of high-rise buildings across the belt of the Corniche had to run down from the stairs as elevators came to a halt in emergency.
Ambulances and Civil Defense personnel were rushed to several parts of the country.
“My flat is on the 18th floor and I felt the aftershock very strongly. I was sitting at the time and staggered,” Daniel Perez, a resident of the diplomatic area in West Bay, said. Perez said he was not sure whether it was a real earthquake or he was just feeling dizzy when the alarms went off.
“I stood up and walked to the couch to lie down. But I still felt wobbly and right away the fire alarm in the building went off so I went down in the elevator which was operating normally,” he said.
Some 70 residents gathered in the assembly point located in the parking lot of the building and were able to return to their homes only after an hour.
Sara Morris, who works for the Commercial Bank Plaza located in the West Bay said she was afraid at first because it was the first time she had such an experience.
“I was on the 15th floor and I felt a pretty strong tremor. Our office was evacuated right away and it remains closed,” Morris said, adding that workers ran down from the stairs of the building. “I had never felt something like that so I was scared at first, but it only went on for a few seconds and everyone was very calm,” added the British citizen.
The Peninsula
DOHA: People working and living in some of the tallest skyscrapers in the West Bay area yesterday experienced tremors more than others in the country.
Ambulances and Civil Defence vehicles were rushed to the West Bay area following the evacuation although there were no damages or injuries reported.
“No specific patients were treated from the incident,” Brendon David Morris, Chief Operations Office, Ambulance Service, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), said.
“We responded with our standby ambulances in the area and followed other ambulances immediately,” he added.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) confirmed through their social media channels that no damages or injuries took place in the country.
Meanahile, several other motorists, unaware of the aftershocks, were stuck in huge traffic jams starting from the West Bay to the Airport area.
“I felt the tremor more than once, first I thought I’m dizzy. But the last one was for more than 20 seconds and then realized it’s a tremor and saw my colleagues panicking. The buildings were evacuated and we were asked to go home,” said a senior executive working for an Oil and Gas company.
“We have experienced shaking sense during the Tsunami and at bomb blasts but this was very different,” she added.
Another employee of an office in the area said he felt the tremor around 3.00pm while he was getting ready to go to the airport as he was leaving to Dubai yesterday. “I was to step out of office to go to the airport when I felt the tremor. Initially I couldn’t figure what was happening, I realized it’s a tremor only when we were asked to evacuate,” he said.
A European resident of the west Bay area said: “Felt the tremor strongly I could feel the building shaking, all furniture and utensils were moving. It was scary.”
“We stayed out of the building for an hour like and some people even didn’t want to go back, they were so scared,” she added.
The tremor was also felt in some other areas of Doha. A resident in the Doha Jadeed area said, “I felt it before 2.56pm. Felt like my couch was shaking. Just to make sure I was not feeling dizzy, Checked the wall hangings and it was swaying. Baby’s hanging cradle was also swaying.”
“My husband was at the Pearl Qatar and he has felt the tremor very strong,” she added.
