2008 Lake Kivu earthquake

Earthquake
title=2008 Lake Kivu earthquake
date= February 3 2008

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magnitude = 5.9 M_w
depth= convert|10|km|mi|0
location= coord|2.314|S|28.896|E
countries affected = RWA
BDI
flagicon|COD DR Congo
KEN
casualties = at least 39 dead, 349+ injured [ [http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/02/03/rwanda.quake.ap/index.html Earthquakes kill 39 in Rwanda, Congo - CNN.com ] ] The 2008 Lake Kivu earthquake shook several countries in Africa's Great Lakes region at 07:34:12 (UTC) on February 3. It measured 5.9 on the moment magnitude scale according to the United States Geological Survey [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Magnitude 5.9 - LAC KIVU REGION, DEM. REP. OF THE CONGO | date=2008-02-03 | publisher=USGS | url =http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008mzam.php | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2008-02-03 | language = ] and lasted about 15 seconds.cite web| url = http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSL0319545020080203 | title = At least 21 die in Rwanda quake | accessdate = 2008-02-03 | publisher = "Reuters"] cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7224925.stm | title = Deadly earthquake shakes Rwanda | accessdate = 2008-02-03 | publisher = "BBC Online"] The epicentre was 20 kilometres east of Bukavu at Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Tectonic summary

According to the USGS, [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008mzam.php#summary]

The earthquake occurred in the Western Rift of the East African rift system. The East African rift system is a diffuse, approximately 3000-km-long, zone of crustal extension that passes through eastern Africa from Djibouti and Eritrea on the north to Malawi on the south and that constitutes the boundary between the Africa plate on the west and the Somalia plate on the east. At the earthquake's latitude, the Africa and Somalia plates are spreading apart at a rate of about four millimeters per year. The earthquake occurred near Lake Kivu, the basin of which was created by normal faulting similar to that which produced the February 3 earthquake. The largest earthquake to have occurred in the rift system since 1900 had a magnitude of about 7.6. The epicenter of the February 3, 2008, earthquake is within several tens of kilometers of the epicenter of a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that killed two people in Goma in October 2002. Earthquakes within the East African rift system occur as the result of both normal faulting and strike-slip faulting.

Details

At least 25 people are confirmed dead in Rwanda, with a further 200 seriously injured. Ten people were killed when a church collapsed in the Rusizi District of West Province in Rwanda, according to Rwanda radio.cite web| url = http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/03/2153211.htm | title = 23 dead in Rwanda earthquake: radio | accessdate = 2008-02-03 | publisher = "Australian Broadcasting Corporation"] In the Democratic Republic of Congo they have confirmed at least 5 dead and 149 seriously injured.cite web| url = http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL03244479._CH_.2400 | title = Death toll from Rwanda, Congo quakes hits 30 | accessdate = 2008-02-03 | publisher = "Reuters"]

The earthquake was felt in Burundi, causing an electricity cut, and as far as the Kenyan capital Nairobi.cite web| url = http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/182198,50-magnitude-quake-hits-rwanda-congo-hundreds-injured.html | title = 5.0-magnitude quake hits Rwanda, Congo, hundreds injured | accessdate = 2008-02-03 | publisher = "Earthtimes"]

Similar earthquakes

References

External links

* [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2008mzam.php USGS Earthquake Hazards Program report]