Earthquake in East Africa's Lake Kivu kills at least one and injures scores

February 15, 2008

Lake Kivu, which is on the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, has been hit by an earthquake that measured 5.4 on the Richter Scale. This earthquake is the third to hit the area this month and follows an earthquake that took place 11 days ago and killed almost 40 people.

"Some houses have collapsed and there are injuries, but I do not yet have the details," said the mayor of the city on the DRC side of the border. "A lot of people left their homes during the night," he said. The area is on the East African Rift System, which is what causes the earthquake to form. The mayor of the town on the Rwandan side of the border said, "The houses that came down are mainly those devastated by the February 3 earthquake."

This Earthquake has a lower magnitude than the two previous earthquakes, which measured 6.0 and 7.0 on the Richter scale.