The United States Geological Survey Recorded a Magnitude 5.0 Earthquake at a depth of 6.4 km about 10 km beneath the Tanzanian portion of Lake Malawi, slightly after 10.00 am local time (slightly after 7.00 am GMT) on Monday 24 March 2018. There are no reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event, but people have reported feeling it locally.
Lake Malawi 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.
Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.
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