5.6 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES BUKAVU AREA OF EASTERN CONGO
(Posted 07th August 2015)
The Eastern Congolese town of Bukavu and towns and villages in neighbouring countries like Burundi and Rwanda felt ‘shaken’ when a 5.6 Richter Scale quake rattled the region at the southern end of Lake Kivu. The event took place around 01.25 hrs GMT or 03.25 local Bukavu / Cyangugu time or 04.25 hrs local East African Time and was shortly afterwards confirmed by the US Geological Survey.
While the information made its way swiftly to the inbox of this correspondent from the Rwandan side of the lake at Cyangugu were no details available as yet on damages, injuries or perhaps even deaths.
The Western rift valley, of which Lake Kivu is part, is like the Eastern rift a seismologically active area with several volcanos periodically erupting, like Mt. Ol Donyo Lengai in Tanzania or the volcanos near the main Eastern Congolese town of Goma, best known of them Mt. Nyiragongo.
The Rwandan side of the border is an area of the country which is of both agricultural as well as of tourism importance with the Nyungwe Forest National Park only an hour’s drive from the airport in Cyangugu.
