Magnitude 5.4 earthquake strikes Arabian Sea off southern Oman

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck the Arabian Sea on Friday about 198 kilometers (123 miles) southwest of Salalah in southern Oman, according to the Saudi Geological Survey.

In a statement on the US social media platform X, the survey said the quake was recorded at 3.01 pm local time (1201 GMT) by stations of the Kingdom's National Seismic Network.

It said the epicenter was located in the Arabian Sea about 198 kilometers southwest of Salalah, the capital of Oman's Dhofar Governorate.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

According to the Earthquake Monitoring Center at Oman's Sultan Qaboos University, seismic activity in the Arabian Sea is associated with the Owen Fracture Zone, a transform fault separating the Arabian and Indian tectonic plates where moderate earthquakes are common.

The center added that seismic activity south of Oman is also concentrated near the Gulf of Aden because of fault systems linked to the gulf's opening and the movement of tectonic plates.