It is deadly, dramatic and comes out of a sudden when you are unprepared. This is Earthquake. And this is exactly what happened in Africa, along the Great Lakes region two years ago.
On 3 February 2008 at about 0935 (local time), an earthquake hit the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. The epicenter was 20 kilometers north of Bukavu at Lake Kivu in Congo. The shake lasted for 15 seconds.
A subsequent earthquake happened in the same area 3.5 hours later. The quakes were also felt in the neighboring country, Burundi.
The earthquakes were created by normal faulting when the African plate and the Somalia plate pull away from each other.
The magnitude of these earthquakes is 6.0 and 5.0 respectively.
In Rwanda, 34 died in the country’s west, including 10 died when a Church collapsed. 5 died in the boarder of Congo. More than 300 people were injured. Many buildings in that district had collapsed. Several thousands had been made homeless. The earthquake had also caused electrical cuts in many towns in that region.
The governments, besides mobilizing internal resources, also accepted international help in the relief operation. Police and soldiers were pulling out people from the fallen houses. Aid agencies provided the homeless with basic necessities – shelter, food and clean water to avoid outbreaks of disease. The casualties were being treated in local hospitals or air-lifted to hospitals in Kigali. The Christian Aid- Burundi had also sent a psychotherapist to do healing sessions.
To reduce loss of life and damage, earthquake-prone areas should take the following measures:
Conduct drills frequently so that people and civil defence units are familiar with emergency procedures:
1. Ensure enough food, shelters and medicine at all times
2.Buildings should be low rise and made of wood to reduce injuries
3.Wear a whistle around the neck so as to alert rescuers when trapped under fallen buildings.
Bibliography
Websites:
BBC news, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7225896.stm, 20 Feb 2010
British Geological Survey, http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/recent_events/world_special/congo_03_feb_2008.pdf, 20 Feb 2010
David Niyonzima, http://www.thars.org/reading/ltr-drc-feb-mar08.pdf, 20 Feb 2010
BBC news, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7225896.stm, 20 Feb 2010
Books:
Dr Alvin Silverstein, Virginia Silverstein and Laura Silverstein Nunn(2010) The Science Behind Seismic Shocks and Tsunamis , Enslow Publishers, Inc., USA
