Muscat: A tremor which occurred in a Muscat suburb on Tuesday evening was the first of its kind and can be classified as a "non-warning" earthquake, the Director of the Earthquake Monitoring Centre at Sultan Qaboos University said in an interview. ... The epicentre of the tremor, which occurred at 08:06 p.m. on Tuesday, was about 30 km from the city of Muscat and felt by part of the population because it was shallow," Dr. Issa Al Hussein said. The earthquake was recorded 2 on Richter Scale by the Seismological Centre of the Sultan Qaboos University.
I don't know what is meant by "non-warning" earthquake, unless it means the residents don't need to be warned because another quake is not expected...but then again, quakes never are expected. And I don't know what they mean by first of its kind in the headline when the article later says that the mountain range in the area had experienced tremors in 2010. If you go to the short article, you'll see.
However, there was a concerted effort to collect data as to the seismicity of Oman and "through these efforts, it has been established that a major fault exists in the Gulf of Oman (offshore Muscat)." (source .pdf paper, Earthquake Hazard Potential in Oman). The paper goes on to report,
"There are practically no instrumentally-recorded earthquakes in Oman. The global database, however, lists an earthquake of magnitude 5.1 (Richter Scale) in AI-Kamil area in 1971. There are numerous reports of felt earthquakes in Oman (Table 1)."
I'm focusing on Oman because seismicity, or any activity, in the prophetic epicenter is always highly interesting and important to monitor. You might recall in Dec. 2011 I reported a new island had emerged in the Red Sea. In June of 2011 a spectacular volcanic eruption took place in Eritrea, where the previous eruption had occurred way back in 1861. To say the 2011 eruption was sudden and surprising is an understatement
In other earthquake news, there was a quake in the UK today.
Devon earthquake: Biggest tremor in the UK for SIX YEARS shakes the South West
"The nation was hit by its biggest earthquake in six years today, shaking homes and leaving residents frightened and confused. The 4.1 magnitude quake was felt over hundreds of miles, with thousands of people caught in the tremors across the West Country and South Wales."
As always I believe that earthquakes are an important warning sign from God- whether He directly caused it or allowed it to happen. Keep watching the signs. Yes I know I'm a broken record, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. One of these days the rapture will happen. Meanwhile the anticipation of both living for Christ on earth and looking forward to glorified life with Him in heaven is what it's all about. Do you long for His appearing? I hope so.
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Further reading
Why does God allow natural disasters, i.e. earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis?"
