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Saturday, June 18, 2011

Minor earthquake in Rwanda

May we kindly ask Rwanda people who live in the greater epicenter area to share their information with earthquake-report.com. Please use the I have  Felt It form below. Please let us know also if some abnormal activity from one of the volcanoes occurred.

UPDATE 11:41 UTC : Earthquake-Report.com users Felt reports :
Kigali : Clear Earthquake this morning in Kigali, Rwanda.
No damages to be seen so the guess is that it is a minor one.
Kigali : In Gikondo area of Kigali, a loud rumble similar to a train passing through an underground tunnel was felt mid morning local time. There was vibration through the walls of the house for perhaps 2-3 seconds with no evident structural damage. (Gavin Ryalls)
Kiyovu – muhima – Nyarugenge : It sounded like a very heavy thunder or a very extra heavy truck hit my house, but nothing is broken.
UPDATE 09:17 UTC : Our first title (which still circulates the world) was based on incoming Social Media testimonies and looked to be strong.
As we have received no direct confirmation in data or enough testimonies to confirm the first messages, we are downgrading this earthquake as a minor earthquake.

UPDATE 09:06 UTC : ER is currently testing out ways to detect earthquakes quicker than the present reporting by seismological agencies who are working on instrumental records.  If multiple people report an earthquake by means of Fb, Twitter, etc, we are 100% sure something really happened but in the first stage it is a lot of guessing as every different person will fill in Heavy, Strong etc as he is personally experiencing it. In other words a minor quake in some places may be felt as a strong earthquake. The same kind of earthquake will be regarded as a daily inconvenience at the other end of the world.

UPDATE 08:55 UTC: Shocks were reported back on 23rd May 2011 also, however no hypocentral information on that occasion either.
UPDATE 08:45 UTC: From CATDAT damaging earthquakes database and associated references in CATDAT.
Commonly these earthquakes are associated around -2, 29 in terms of latitude/longitude.
In 1912, a 6.1Ms earthquake struck Rwanda, This earthquake was strongly felt around the northern parts of Lake Tanganyika, particularly at Tsivitoke and Rusisi where it caused minor damage.
In 2002, a number of earthquakes struck associated with the eruption of Volcan Nyiragongo, Congo. 5 were killed and at least 307 buildings destroyed in the Gisenyi area, Rwanda. Lava flows from this eruption killed at least 45 people, destroyed parts of 14 villages and caused damage to about one-half of the city of Goma, Congo. Jan 17th, Jan 20th (M5.1), Jan 21st (M5.1) are the main ones.
October 24th – M6.2 – Two people killed at Goma, several buildings damaged or destroyed at Lwiro and minor damage to buildings at Bukavu and Goma. One building destroyed at Mugera and several buildings damaged at Kigali, Rwanda.
On 3 February 2008, a Mw5.9 earthquake struck as well as several other earthquakes struck Rwanda and DPR Congo, Five people killed and 200 injured, 99 buildings collapsed and 815 seriously damaged at Bukavu. Power outages occurred in about 50 percent of the city. Thirty-three people killed and 517 injured in the Cyangugu-Nyamasheke area, Rwanda. Felt (IV) at Butare and Kigali.
On the 14th February 2008, a Ml4.7 shock, One person killed, 65 injured and homes damaged at Kigali and 5 buildings severely damaged at Ibanda. Felt at Butare and Ruhengeri. Forty-four people injured at Bukavu, Congo.
UPDATE 08:39 UTC It was a strong short shock as reported from the shaken. Most likely local, with magnitude around 3.5-4.5 of shallow depth, given the lack of reporting from seismology sources.
UPDATE 08:35 UTC Earthquakes in Africa generally are only reported above a magnitude of 4.5-5 by these organisations. Hopefully, with more support internationally, seismic stations and earthquake awareness in Africa can be improved and we can give better seismic risk information for the future. Unfortunately, we will just have to wait for more information.
UPDATE 08:31 UTC Please fill out the “did you feel it”. USGS, GEOFON and EMSC yet to give the earthquake location.
UPDATE 08:26 UTC KigaliWire from Twitter reported “Earthquake in Kigali” – first report.
From Beauty of Rwanda: It sounded like an earthquake @azadessa A very large bang, strong rumble, shaking the house. A few screams from surprised people on the road.
UPDATE 08:21 UTC We are looking at intensity III-V from the responses from Twitter at the moment.
UPDATE 08:20 UTC We are still waiting on hypocenter information.
UPDATE 08:15 UTC
People in Kigali and the surroundings :) are reporting an earthquake in Kigali that was felt strongly at 7.13am UTC.
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : Unknown as yet. 3.5-4.5 estimate.
UTC Time : Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 07:13 AM UTC
Local time at epicenter :
Depth (Hypocenter) : most likely shallow.
Geo-location(s) :
Felt in Kigali, Rwanda

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