Friday 10 January 2014

Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake in northeast Tanzania.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km, roughly 18 km to the south of the city of Mpanda in the Katavi Region of northwestern Tanzania, slightly after 1.05 am local time on Thursday 9 January 2014 (slightly after 10.05 pm on Wednesday 8 January, GMT). There are no reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event, though it is likely to have been felt locally.

The approximate location of the 9 January 2013 Katavi Earthquake. Google Maps.

Western Tanzania 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.


Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.