Minor earthquake shakes Lichinga – Niassa, Mozambique

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Minor earthquake shakes Lichinga – Niassa, Mozambique

1:56 CAT | 11 Oct 2016

An official points to strong earthquake markings on Seismogram recordings at the Seismology Center in Taipei, Taiwan, late Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 8:02 p.m. and measured magnitude 6.3. It was centered in a remote mountainous area 45 kilometers (28 miles) south-southwest of the coastal city of Hualian at a depth of just 12 kilometers (7.5 miles). There were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties. (AP Photo/Wally Santana) Taiwan Earthquake

File photo /For illustration purposes only

A minor earthquake shook the city of Lichinga, capital of Niassa province in northern Mozambique, at around 4:00 PM on Saturday, causing no loss of life or property damage.

A press release from the National Institute of Mines (INAMI) reports that the earthquake was felt in Muchenga and Ceramica districts. “The earthquake was not registered by the national seismographic stations nor by other national bodies studying these natural phenomena, which is why we can not provide the magnitude or epicenter,” the document reads.

“This leads us to think that it is a local earthquake and with an epicenter at a depth of more than 10 kilometers,” the statement goes on to say, adding that the INAMI continues to monitor the situation.

This is the second earthquake recorded in the past three weeks in Mozambique. The first, magnitude 5.5 on the Richter scale, shook the central region of the country at 10:06 PM on 22 September, also without causing loss of life or property damage.

The earthquake had its epicenter in Machaze district, Manica province, and was felt in the neighboring province of Sofala, as well as in Gaza and Inhambane provinces.

Mozambique is crossed by the Rift Valley, a complex of tectonic faults created about 35 million years ago which extends for over 5,000 kilometres from northern Syria to central Mozambique.

Machaze district in Manica province has often been shaken by seismic activity. The worst was recorded in February 2006 when a 7.5 magnitude earthquake opened a seven kilometer-long crater. The earthquake toppled large trees and only failed to cause more destruction and deaths because the crater opened up in an uninhabited, marshy area.

Source: A Bola