Kampala feels third tremor at 01.22 a.m. with a 5.7 strength at epicentre under Lake Albert

THIRD TREMOR HITS KAMPALA IN TWO DAYS

(Posted 04th July 2013)

A third tremor, and the largest yet, has hit Kampala at 01.22 hrs this morning, setting the TL’s of the social media among Kampaleans alight even at this hour.

One tremor yesterday reached 5.2 on the open ended Richter Scale – the other one was minor – and was located in the Albertine Rift, the epicentre pinpointed to some 20 km below the surface under Lake Albert. The region, rich in oil, has been the focus of much of Uganda’s oil exploration but with the most recent quake clearly larger than the 5.2 one of yesterday, questions are already being asked on the preparations of the exploration companies in case a major quake would strike the region and what impact it would have on their equipment and installations. Earthquake Watch has since confirmed that the latest quake, originating in the same area, reached 5.7 on the Richter Scale and reports are now trickling in of some damage, the extent to be confirmed at daylight no doubt which is 5 hours away as this report is uploaded. Watch this space.

2 Responses

  1. Well I would like to understand why this is happening of recent. This seems so strange in this part of the world. Should we expect something major?.We dont want to be taken unawares. Last nights tremor was too strong.

    1. While I am NOT an expert in quake knowledge, we do live in the Great Rift Valley region which has for Eon’s been seismically active. Over the past say 2 decades there were several quakes, in the Rwenzori region, the Lake Albert region and as far as Mt. Ol Donyo Lengai in Tanzania, all felt in Kampala. Nothing strange therefore about the recent tremors.
      Thanks for reading my blog.
      W.