Earthquakes jolt east Africa
August 21 2007 at 08:29AM
Nairobi - A strong earthquake hit east Africa on Monday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, the second quake since Saturday.
The USGS said on its website a magnitude 5.2 quake struck northern Tanzania, 85km north-west of Arusha.
The tremors could be felt up to 180km away in the Kenyan capital Nairobi where residential and high rise buildings shook gently for several minutes.
"There was a small one, then half an hour later there was a big one. The bed and the walls were shaking," a Reuters witness said of the early morning quake.
The latest quakes revived July fears
According to the USGS another magnitude 5.2 quake hit the region on Saturday.
Kenya and Tanzania lie along the geologically active Great Rift Valley.
The latest quakes revived July fears when panicked workers emptied high rise buildings after several tremors struck Nairobi over five days.
The government blamed the successive July quakes on stirring underneath Ol Donyo Lengai, an active volcano 240km south-west of Nairobi in Tanzania.
Kenyan geologists could not immediately be reached to confirm the epicentre of the weekend quakes.
The last time a major quake struck the region was December 2005.
www.iol.co.za
