Friday 23 August 2013

Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake in northern Tanzania.

A Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km took place slightly before 8.15 pm local time (slightly before 5.15 pm GMT on Thursday 22 August 2013, on the western shore of Lake Manyara in northern Tanzania, according to the United States Geological Survey. There are no reports of any damage or casualties arising from this quake, though it is likely that it was felt locally.

The approximate location of the 22 August 2013 Lake Manyara Earthquake. Google Maps.

Lake Albert is on the eastern side 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. This rifting is not a smooth process, but rather comes in stops and starts as the pressure overcomes the tendency of the rocks to stick together, causing Earthquakes in the process.


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