Saudi media, naturally enough, continue their coverage of the earthquakes currently raising concern in the area. Unfortunately, the villages cited in the media don’t appear to be in the geographic databases used by mapping applications like Google Earth, but by using those programs to find Yanbu (or Yanbo, as Google transcribes it) and scrolling north, you come to an area well marked by lava fields and a few caldera.
Saudi Gazette/Okaz report that Civil Defense teams are in the area and will stay there until the threat recedes. Villagers, on the other hand, aren’t taking the threat very seriously, refusing to leave their homes to relocate, even temporarily.
New tremors hit Al-’Eis
Khalid Al-Shallali and Muhammad Al-MuseikAL-’EIS – New tremors hit the remote town of Al-’Eis at dawn Thursday with the largest quake registering 3 on the Richter Scale.
Inspection teams have been out to the site, which lies to the north of Yanbu and Madina, and checked on the safety conditions of government premises and residents’ homes.
The head of Civil Defense in Madina, Saleh Al-Muhawwis, said that local residents had refused to relocate to shelters and were remaining in their houses.
“We will continue our work until the tremors stop and people’s fears are allayed,” Al-Muhawwis said.
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Arab News continues the theme, casting the villagers’ attitudes as lackadaisical at best.
Awareness drive gets lukewarm response in quake-prone villages
MADINAH: The Civil Defense teams undertaking awareness campaigns about safety measures at times of natural calamities in and around remote villages in Madinah province, where mild tremors measuring up to 3.3 on the Richter scale were registered, were appalled by the lukewarm response of some local residents.
The Civil Defense teams noticed that many people either carried on their normal lives without attending the speeches and demonstration classes conducted by the teams on safety precautions.
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The article quotes Bedouin who say they have the wisdom of the desert to rely upon. By reading animal and insect signs, they say, they will be able to tell when real danger approaches. I hope that works out well for them…
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May:12:2009 - 11:05
GUYS THE YUUM-UL-QYAMA HAS CAME. 2012 IS GOING TO BE THE END. THIS IS THE EVIDENCE OF IT, THAT NEW QUAMAT THE SAUDIA VOLCANOES WILL ERUPT. BE AWARE PPL.
May:12:2009 - 12:11
I’m not quite sure that Judgment Day is upon Saudi Arabia just yet… But thanks for your concern!
May:13:2009 - 02:34
Waji, if you read about the X planet and 2012.. you read a Hoax from an Arabic forum.. its all bullocks from another belief system btw.. not Islamic to be calling 2012 a Judgment day based on the Mayan cycle of 144,000 days “Baktun”, which on 2012 will complete the 13th Baktun and start the 14th Baktun. The Mayans themselves didn’t put any doomsday significance to that date. It seems some religious book thumper with a tin foil hat did that and its really funny how many religions seem to share significance to that date while the ones who use its calendar didn’t put any significance to it.