Another quake hits southwestern districts

Another earthquake, the third in two weeks, hit southwestern Rwanda on 15 February, killing three people and injuring several more.

Scientists at the Goma Volcano Observatory, based in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said the quake measured 5.4 on the Richter scale.

At least 43 people have died and hundreds been displaced since the quakes, of varying sizes, hit the southwestern districts of Rusizi and Nyamasheke in Rwanda and the DRC's Kivu region.

Jean Pierre Turatsinze, the mayor of Rusizi, which was most affected by the latest quake, told IRIN on 15 February that residents felt two tremors around 2am local time (4am GMT).

“Houses and infrastructure, including homes and classrooms, have been destroyed by the shock and the 15 injured people were sent immediately to the neighbouring Gihundwe hospital where they are currently under care,” Turatsinze said.

Quoting local administrative sources, government-owned Radio Rwanda reported that the quake had damaged 45 homes in Rusizi and Nyamasheke.

The quake's aftershocks were felt across the country, including the capital, Kigali, according to the radio.

A day earlier, another tremor measuring 5.5 on the open-ended Richter scale rocked the DRC's South Kivu town of Bukavu and could be felt 200km from the epicentre, according to Dieudonne Wafula, the head of the volcano observatory in Goma, capital of North Kivu province.

“This strong earthquake was actually just another aftershock of the real earthquake that struck on 3 February,” Wafula said.

The 3 February quake killed some 45 people in both Rwanda and the DRC.

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