Dubai - Two mild earthquakes measuring 2.9 and 3.5 on the Richter scale struck the United Arab Emirates Tuesday morning, an official source at the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology said.

The quakes centered in the Gulf of Oman and the northern area of Dibbah, seismologists said. Earthquakes of this magnitude rarely cause damage.

The eastern border of the Arabian tectonic plate runs along the Gulf, off the coast of southern Iran. Last September, two tremors measuring 4.6 and 4.3 on the Richter scale, also centred in the eastern Gulf, were felt in the UAE.

In 2003, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake destroyed much of the southern Iranian city of Bam, killing more than 20,000 people and injuring tens of thousands. dpa