'Small fire' in Dubai after loud explosion shakes buildings

Dubai emergency services put out a "small fire" after residents reported a loud explosion that shook buildings near Jebel Ali port, Emirati officials said Thursday.

Nobody was hurt in Wednesday night's incident, which came six months after an explosion on a container ship unleashed a fireball at one of the world's busiest ports.

Dubai civil defence teams "brought under control a small fire that originated from electric cable in an industrial area in Jebel Ali", the government-run Dubai Media Office tweeted.

Local residents said nearby buildings shook for about two seconds and they feared their windows would break.

"We felt a shock wave. The windows of my house in Jebel Ali village nearly fell off last night," one Twitter user posted.

"Not sure how small this was, but it definitely generated a shock wave strong enough (for) the house to shake... All the neighbours felt it too."

The July explosion on a container ship carrying flammable materials sent out shock waves that pulsed through nearby Dubai and a fireball that shot into the sky.

Such events are a rarity in the wealthy oil-rich UAE.

Jebel Ali port is capable of handling aircraft carriers and was the US Navy's busiest port of call outside of the United States in 2017, according to the US Congressional Research Service.