'Fairly strong' earthquake rattles Congo
Pastor Dale Morgan
'Fairly strong' earthquake rattles Congo*
POSTED: 1252 GMT (2052 HKT), February 19, 2007
Story Highlights
• Magnitude 5.7 earthquake hits eastern Congo early Monday
• Quake was in Lake Albert region, 1,120 miles from Kinshasa
• No word on injuries or damage
• An earthquake in Congo in December killed nine people
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) -- A magnitude-5.7 quake shook eastern Congo's Lake
Albert region on Monday near the Ugandan border, a preliminary report
from the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The tremor also was registered by the Volcanic Observatory of Goma in
eastern Congo.
"It was a fairly strong tremor, which was felt in the Congo near the
town of Beni, but was quite weak on the Ugandan side," said Celestin
Kasereka, who heads the observatory.
According to the USGS, the earthquake hit at 4:33 a.m. local time some
1,120 miles from Congo's capital, Kinshasa. Measurements taken by the
observatory showed the quake lasted for nearly five seconds.
"We still don't know if there were any victims since the epicenter is
situated inside Lake Albert," Kasereka said.
The last earthquake in Congo hit December 5 in the southeastern town of
Kalemie. It was a magnitude-6.7 quake and claimed nine lives.
In Uganda, officials said the tremor was almost imperceptible: "We have
not received reports of any damage in parts of the country. It was a
very slight tremor, I think most people even slept through it," said
Uganda's chief fire officer Joseph Mugisa.