Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining says the 210 earthquake events that occurred between July and September this year with magnitudes of between 0.1 and 5.0 did not cause any damage to property or injury and death to people.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the ministry’s Geological Surveys Department, however, cautions the public not to panic during earthquakes and avoid being close to things that can fall on them.
The statement says the epicentres for most of the earthquakes fall within the Thunduwike Vwaza area in Rumphi District and Karonga in the Northern Region.
In an interview on Wednesday, director of the Geological Surveys Department, Jalf Salima, said most of the earthquakes were minor and could not be felt.
Salima said the country is prone to earthquakes as it lies in the Great East African Rift System (Ears).
He singled out the lakeshore area from Karonga to Nkhotakota as highly prone to earthquakes.
Salima has advised people living or seeking to develop structures in the mentioned areas to consult the department before putting up structures.
It further says the earthquakes had their epicentres located in Mozambique, east of Nkhotakota District in the Central Region.
The report says a 4.8 magnitude earthquake was also recorded on September 8 at 19.58 GMT with its epicentre located in Tanzania, north east of Karonga District.
Malawi is located in the seismically active western arm of the Ears, hence continuously experiences a series of low to medium magnitude earthquakes.
The highest earthquake recorded in the history of the country is 6.2 magnitude recorded on March 10 1989 in Salima and 6.0 magnitude recorded in Karonga in 2009. n
