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Dubai residents have been feeling earthquake tremors more often over the past few years. But architects and scientists are confident they can handle the conditions through improved design and better monitoring. When an earthquake with its epicentre in Iran or Pakistan is felt in Dubai, residents of high-rise buildings are more than concerned. On 30 July, over the Eid holidays, residents in the United Arab Emirates felt tremors that woke them from their sleep. The following day the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology received many calls of alarmed people from all over the country. A 5.5 magnitude earthquake had struck off the coast of Iran by Kish Island, 300 kilometres (186 miles) or so from Abu Dhabi. And tremors had spread to the UAE. Dubai is a city known for its modern architecture and dazzling skylines. Over the past few years, UAE residents have been feeling and reporting tremors more frequently. The UAE lies close to a fault line and earthquakes with an epicentre in Iran and Pakistan can be felt often. Khamis al-Shamsi is the Head of the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology. He says tremors are common, but residents are more aware of them because of the height of the buildings. According to al-Shamsi, the frequency of the earthquakes hasn't increased: "Earthquakes have happened before and occur now, people have now started realising there are tremors, of course they now feel it more because residents are living in high-rise buildings, they feel these earthquakes," he says. "Now people have more knowledge on earthquakes and there is now an observance network for earthquakes which detects all tremors, big or small and whether it affects the country or not." In May, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck Iran, its epicentre around 120 kilometres (75 miles) from Ras Al Khaimah, the northernmost city in the UAE. Residents took to social media to report that they had been feeling tremors. Last year, residents in Abu Dhabi and Dubai felt strong tremors and many were evacuated after a powerful 7.8 magnitude quake hit Pakistan. In the late 1990s, the Dubai Municipality set codes based on the Uniform Building Code, an American standard that architects and engineers have to comply with to ensure safety is up to date. Shams Eldien Naga, founder and owner of Naga Architects, set up his company 13 years ago. He says his company has been following the regulations strictly. "From the time we started here, we have been designing to these codes and they are safe codes, we are right now raising that to make it a bit more safer. But I think that most of the buildings, to my knowledge, that have been designed in our period have always been following these codes," he says. Each geographical area can be categorised into seismic zones, he explains. For example, San Francisco is a Zone 4, while Dubai is listed as Zone 2. Shortly after the Pakistan quake, the Dubai Municipality announced that it will impose new safety codes for new buildings that are 10 stories or higher, thus allowing them to endure tremors and shocks up to 5.9 on the Richter scale. Naga says his firm has tightened its measures accordingly: "Recently we have up-scaled the level of what we design to make it a bit safer for high-rise buildings 10 stories and up. " You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/94afe0086d566b8dfcf2a1331e427b67 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork