(I’ve gone ahead and used copy from my last post because a lot is still relevant from last week).

Everyone is talking about now discussing the stronger Qatar Quake that happened. Now it’s more of a sway than a Quake. Over at QSTP the feeling was quite smooth; this time it was like the table was gyrating in a circular motion (I’m thinking hoolahoops). Since it was the second time, I immediate knew it was… STOP!  tremor time (just a quick MC Hammer hat tip there). Everyone started to evacuate quickly. Good response time. This time there were additional rules, like not standing underneath any structures that could collapse. (nice!)

After evacuating the building, I got onto the Tweet machine to see who else felt it. Some thought they were dreaming, some felt nothing and thought it was a joke, and most people were surprised. (Yes, the same responses as last time).  Not many jokes about it this time. Either people were having a ‘oh no, this is actually a thing now’ moment OR they spent all their good jokes on the last tremor. People felt it in Bin Mahmoud, Westbay, Education City area, Old Salata, Airport Road, The Pearl, and other areas.

So what’s the deal? We didn’t really have an earthquake, it was just the aftershock from an Earthquake in Iran Pakistan border. Reports say that their earthquake was  7.8 in magnititude (last one was 6.4 in magnitude). It was felt in UAE and Bahrain too.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/16/earthquake-hits-iran-pakistan-border

So what happened in Qatar? I was actually happy to see so many people tweeting pics of buildings that were evacuated.
A few that did a great job taking this seriously were QSTP, Ministry of Defence, Qatar Airways, some buildings in the Pearl (yes only some took it seriously.), Al Mana Towers, ictQatar, and The Pearl itself restricted access into the location for a while.

I actually asked people to take note of whether or not their building did anything. You’ll know if you can trust them now or not. You’ll also know that you should put in a complaint to get the management to take things seriously.

It was a different feeling for different people. Some felt nothing, some said that it was quite extreme. Personally, I think that for most people that live here in Qatar and haven’t experienced an earthquake, their reactions might be slightly exaggerated. Having said that, if you were in higher floors in buildings, then you would have felt it much more than others (wider range of motion, albeit slower). That’s physics!

Let’s look at this from a positive perspective. Luckily, since this was a tiny little motion, perhaps it was a good thing. Perhaps this will show off the low quality buildings and highlight the ones that were constructed very well?
According to a friend working on Westbay projects, the towers all comply with Quake Code regulations. That’s a comfort.

Someone kindly tweeted a link to Earthquake Safety Measures. Thanks @neethatx.

Now, people said that it was a shock (no pun intended), since it was the first time ever that this happened. That’s not true.

In 1998 there was quite a shake up which caused a few pot holes to form.

On the 20th of July 2010 the Metreology department confirmed there was a slight tremor, but it was in the north east of the country and not many people felt it. Source

On the 18th of January 2011, there was a post on iCNN stating that a slight quake (most probably another aftershock) occured for 20 seconds. Source It was later confirmed that it was due to a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Pakistan that caused the aftershock. Source

On the 9th of April 2012 there was an earthquake that hit Southern Iran and tremors were felt across Doha. Source.

So there you have it everyone. Stay calm when it happens, check out the quick guide of what to do above, make sure to tweet AFTER you’ve exited the building, and stay safe

I went on down to the African Festival at Katara. It was a pretty fun event. I thought it would be nice to see what happened, what they were up to, and check out the entertainment. Don’t forget to Thumbs Up, Comment, and Subscribe Then I know if you’ve liked it! If you REALLY REALLY like it then please share it too! Take care all, Mr. Q (Your friendly neighbourhood Qatari)

Update: Another tremor felt in Doha on 16 April 2013. See here.

Everyone is talking about the Qatar Quake. Now it’s more of a sway than a Quake. Over at QSTP the feeling was quite smooth. Like a boat gently rocking. First thought was that someone was shaking their leg and causing the table to shake. Got annoyed for a moment. Looked around and saw everyone looking outside and we were immediately evacuated.

Funny, even the earthquakes are chilled out in Qatar.

After evacuating the building, I got onto the Tweet machine to see who else felt it. Some thought they were dreaming, some felt nothing and thought it was a joke, and most people were surprised. ‘No No, it’s not an earthquake, Qatar’s just trying to show the world how to do a proper Harlem Shake”. People felt it in Bin Mahmoud, Westbay, Education City area, Old Salata, Airport Road, The Pearl, and other areas.

So what’s the deal? We didn’t really have an earthquake, it was just the aftershock from an Earthquake in Southern Iran. Reports say that their earthquake was anything from 5.4 – 6.4 in magnitude. It was felt in UAE and Bahrain too.
Source: http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=311834

So what happened in Qatar? I was actually happy to see so many people tweeting pics of buildings that were evacuated.
A few that did a great job taking this seriously were QSTP, Ministry of Defence, Qatar Airways, some buildings in the Pearl (yes only some took it seriously. Sabban Tower management for example did nothing according to a tweet shared with us), Al Mana Towers, ictQatar, and The Pearl itself restricted access into the location for a while.

I actually asked people to take note of whether or not their building did anything. You’ll know if you can trust them now or not. You’ll also know that you should put in a complaint to get the management to take things seriously.

It was a different feeling for different people. Some felt nothing, some said that it was quite extreme. Personally, I think that for most people that live here in Qatar and haven’t experienced an earthquake, their reactions might be slightly exaggerated. Having said that, if you were in higher floors in buildings, then you would have felt it much more than others (wider range of motion, albeit slower). That’s physics!

Let’s look at this from a positive perspective. Luckily, since this was a tiny little motion, perhaps it was a good thing. Perhaps this will show off the low quality buildings and highlight the ones that were constructed very well?
According to a friend working on Westbay projects, the towers all comply with Quake Code regulations. That’s a comfort.

Someone kindly tweeted a link to Earthquake Safety Measures. Thanks @neethatx.

Now, people said that it was a shock (no pun intended), since it was the first time ever that this happened. That’s not true.

In 1998 there was quite a shake up which caused a few pot holes to form.

On the 20th of July 2010 the Metreology department confirmed there was a slight tremor, but it was in the north east of the country and not many people felt it. Source

On the 18th of January 2011, there was a post on iCNN stating that a slight quake (most probably another aftershock) occured for 20 seconds. Source It was later confirmed that it was due to a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Pakistan that caused the aftershock. Source

So there you have it everyone. Stay calm when it happens, check out the quick guide of what to do above, make sure to tweet AFTER you’ve exited the building, and stay safe

Check this out! Red Bull’s Fortress Challenge is going to be held at Film City (google it!). It’s a great chance to participate in a great challenge.

Interested in more? Visit: http://www.redbullmea.com/cs/Satellite/en_MEA/Event/Red-Bull-Fortress-Challenge-Qatar-2013-021243333562416

I went on down to check out Ikea qatar at Doha Festival City and decided to vlog it (and sleep in their bed too.)

I thought it would be nice for you to see what IKEA is like since so many people are talking about the place.

Don’t forget to Thumbs Up, Comment, and Subscribe
Then I know if you’ve liked it!

If you REALLY REALLY like it then please share it too!

Take care all,
Mr. Q (Your friendly neighbourhood Qatari)

This is something that I’ve been talking about for quite a while and it’s something to be concerned about.
The water in many places in Qatar isn’t healthy. I don’t mean that it’s not drinkable, but it’s the cause for bad skin, dryness, hair loss, and even damaging to pipes.

I wonder if the government inspects any of the towers and does water sampling to ensure that we’re all living with healthy water. People often talk about the calcium level of the water being quite high. You know it’s high when you can’t even scrub the limescale off of glass! You can judge by yourself by looking at your faucets or around your sink for white scaling. High calcium content damages the skin and hair, that’s for sure, but I’m going to talk about something even more worrying. Rust/Dirty water.

I’ve recently been told (by a source that prefers to be anonymous) that there are construction companies that are using the wrong types of pipes. They should be using anti-corossion coated pipes. Basically, metal pipes (like any pipe) rust from the inside. They actually rust and get damaged even worse in our type of environment. This means you could be drinking rust…

Now I’m a sensitive person. So I decided to buy a 10,000 Riyal water filteration system from Japan (I know, it’s a lot). It’s state of the art and supposed to last 3 years. It’s attached to a secondary filter which is replaced every month and a half to two months.

Now take a look at this picture. I don’t need to say much.

See that transparent tube with that brown sponge in the middle? That’s what it looks like after just a 10 days! In the center, that super white roll is what the filter used to look like. Now this is quite scary to me. Something that’s supposed to last MUCH longer, turns a filthy brown in just a short period of time. I’m concerned for people who don’t have filters..

Think about this for a second… washing your face, your hair, brushing your teeth, or possibly event drinking this… This is the result of an apartment that’s only a few years old.

I wonder if anything is being done? How harmful is it?

So my question is, how many other people are concerned about the water in Qatar?

I had to share this awesomeness by fellow EO member Khalifa Al Misnad.

THIS is Kite surfing; Qatari Style.

No Dr. Sues ryhming action intended! Regardless, who wants to join the forces with me? They’re giving away Porsches

A great video created by Mohd Saad. The Emir decided to remove his ‘bisht’ and greet the crowd spontaneously during National Day 2012. This is why we love him. He is one of the people.

This is a repost from last year’s blog with some updates.

Qatar is building on the number of events to celebrate National Day year on year. There are a number of huge milestones and events that have lead up to this as well. Qatar’s definitely in the spotlight thanks to mega event after event (World Cup, COP18, Arab Spring involvement, Katara expansions, etc… etc…) and Doha will continue to shine bright as long as changes keep happening.

Why are Qataris so proud? Well we haven’t had that much to be proud of for a long time. Our Emir has brought so much change and development to Qatar that it’s something to almost brag about. A typical Qatari will gladly sacrifice a lot for his country. The Emir has done so much to make our lives better, so why don’t we lift the burden off of his shoulders a bit and try to help?

So whether you’re Qatari, American, British, Indian, Philipino, Japanese, Korean, Lebanese, Pakistani, Chinese or any other nationality (let’s face it, Qatar is a melting pot of diversity), please celebrate National Day with us! Let happiness flow through you like a rush of energy. Think positive and have hope for a fantastic future. Think of each firework that goes off on December 18 as the sound of the country’s heartbeat. WE are Qatar.

One common question I’m asked is how is it that Qatar changed National Day’s date? It never changed. They’re thinking of Independence day, which is on the 3rd of September. Here’s some more info about National Day (from QatarNationalDay.qa):

On 18 December 1878, Sheikh Jassem bin Mohamed bin Thani succeeded his father as the ruler of Qatar. With that, Qatar became a country with a vision… a country that would find unity, grow rapidly, and reach toward ever higher heights.

National Day, also known as Founder’s Day, celebrates the rise of Sheikh Jassem as the father and founder of the State of Qatar. And yet this holiday is a mere two years old: it was founded in 2007 to give people an occasion to honour the history and identity of their country, and to commemorate those who have worked and continue to work to make Qatar a great nation.

The 18th of December is a special day – a day of unity for the people of Qatar. We want you to be a part of it!

Of course don’t forget to check out www.qatarnationalday.qa for all events and great content.

Interested in sponsoring iLoveQatar.net or particular activities? Drop the team an email at contact@iloveqatar.net