OVER 4-MAGNITUDE QUAKE HITS YEMEN

SANA'A, Jan. 17 (Saba) - An earthquake measuring 4.3 on Richter
scale was registered on Sunday by the Earthquake and Volcanoes
Monitoring Center in Dhamar governorate.

The earthquake hit an area, seven kilometres southeast the
governorate, at 4 : 04 am on Sunday.

The centre mentioned that prior slight quakes have been registered,
of which the strongest was on 2.8 Richter scale at 19:43 (world
time) of the same day.

The quakes were classified by the canter as slight ones, adding that
the centre specialists are following-up the seismic records
ceaselessly all over the country and the regional waters.

The center head Jamal Sha'alan said that most of the citizens in
Dhamar city and surrounded villages have felt the tremor, adding
that no casualties were reported.

Dhamar city has been hit by a 6-magnitude quake in 1982. The quake
claimed the lives of 2500 people and about 25,000 injuries in
addition to devastate around 15,000 houses completely and 50,000
houses partly.

AF/AF