AFRICA - Earthquake in central east Africa: fragmentary news from the epicentre zone, little damage but a lot of fear in Kenya, Burundi and the capital of Tanzania

Tuesday, 6 December 2005

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - The earthquake which affected a vast area of East Africa caused much fear but little damage in Kenya, Burundi, and much of Tanzania, although there is still no precise news of the situation in east DR Congo and west Tanzania. “We did not notice the quake. We read about it in the papers” said Italian missionary Fr Luigi Anatoloni of CISA news agency in Nairobi, Kenya. “Only people on the upper floors of high rise buildings felt the quake and rushed into the streets. In fact nothing much happened, only a few cracks in some buildings. Most of Kenya is non seismic territory and people have never experienced similar events” the missionary said.
Also in Dar es Salaam capital of Tanzania the earthquake was felt only in the taller buildings according to local sources. Whereas in Burundi the quake was felt and several building were damaged. “The quake was strong and lasted about a minute” said a source in Bujumbura capital of Burundi. “Buildings were damaged in the capital and in Gitega. Some church buildings were also affected”.
The epicentre of the 7.5 degrees Richter scale was registered in south east DR Congo about 50 km from the town of Kalemie on the banks of Lake Tanganika with a population of about 300,000. According to earthquake experts in Strasbourg the tremor was felt in Burundi, RD Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda and the epicentre was the village of Sibwesa in Tanzania.
News from eastern DRC and Lake Tanganika area is still fragmentary also because communications have been interrupted. The temporary toll expected to rise is at least one person dead and a few injured. The DRC government has mobilised the army and asked international humanitarian organisations to send aid to the area. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 6/12/2005 righe 31 parole 383)


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