The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake at a depth of 11.4 km in southern Manica Province, Mozambique, slightly after 9.15 pm local time (slightly after 6.15 pm GMT) on Tuesday 20 August 2013. This is unlikely to have caused any damage or casualties, though it is large enough that it was probably felt locally, although there have been no reports of anybody having done so at this time.
The approximate location of the 20 August 2013 Manica Earthquake. Google Maps.
While not automatically associated with Earthquake activity, Mozambique does sufferer several moderate-sized quakes in a typical year. This is due to its location at the southern end of the Great Rift Valley, which is slowly splitting the African Plate in two allow a line from the Red Sea through Ethiopia, and which includes the great lakes and volcanoes of east-central Africa. This has the potential to open into a new ocean over the next few tens of millions of years, splitting Africa into two new, smaller, continents; Nubia to the west and Somalia to the east.
See also Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, Magnitude 4.2 Earthquake in Mozambique, Eruption on Mount Karthala and Earthquake off the coast of Mozambique.
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