UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
19 February 2007
Kinshasa — A five-second earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale occurred early on Monday in Lake Albert, on the border of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, an official of the Goma Volcano Observatory said.
"It is a rather strong tremor and was felt more in the eastern town of Beni, in Congo, and at a lower level of intensity in Uganda," Celestin Kasereka, the director of the observatory, said. "We do not know yet if there were victims since the epicentre was in the lake."
A quake of this magnitude is capable of considerable damage, especially in built-up urban areas. Eastern Congo is fairly heavily populated.
However, initial reports from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affaires in Beni, North Kivu Province, said the tremor had been slight in the town and had had "no impact" on residents.
Eastern Congo lies along an area of seismic activity running north-south. The last quake in the country, measuring 6.7, was on 5 December 2006 in the southeastern province of Katanga. It killed nine people and damaged several buildings.
[Also on the Net: DRC: Earthquake epicentre in Lake Kivu http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=42211 ]
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
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