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Earth tremors shake parts of Malawi

Earth tremors at 4:55am yesterday shook four districts in the Southern Region and the Northern Region city of Mzuzu.

Districts affected by the tremor in the South were Zomba, Machinga, Phalombe and Blantyre.

According to acting director in the Department of Geological Survey under the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining, Jalf Salima, the tremor was recorded at a magnitude of 3.1ML whereas the corresponding point which is the epicenter was measured at 102 kilometres south east of Zomba.

Salima said the source is in Mozambique and its depth stood at 10 kilometres.

“The latitude of the epicenter was recorded at -15.99556 whereas the longitude was recorded at 36.571399,” he said.

“Other districts in the Southern Region might have experienced the tremor which was recorded at 4:55am because of their distance to the centres and while people might have experienced the tremor in Mzuzu.”

Salima said Malawi and most countries located in the East African rift valley experience tremors because rocks have got faults and the movement of the rocks makes them to crush into one another.

He said, so far, the department has not registered any case of loss of life or damage of property but was quick to say maybe such cases will be recorded as they are still assessing the tremor’s damage.

In 2009, earth tremors also hit the country injuring at least six people and damaging buildings while hundreds of people fled their homes in Karonga.

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