Friday 4 October 2013

Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake in Eastern Province, Zambia.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake at a depth of 15.7 km roughly 89 km west of Chipata in Eastern Province, Zambia, slightly before 4.25 pm local time (slightly before 2.25 pm GMT) on Wednesday 2 October 2013. There are no reports of any damage or casualties arising from this quake, though it was felt locally.

The approximate location of the 2 October 2013 Zambia Earthquake. Google Maps.

Eastern Zambia lies within the the of the Great Rift Valley, which is slowly splitting the African Plate in two along 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.


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