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KIGALI/KINSHASA. — A strong earthquake struck Rwanda and shook most of the capital Kigali yesterday morning. The magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit Rwanda at 3:25am local time, the United States Geological Survey reported. The epicentre of the earthquake was located 35km north of Cyangugu city in western Rwanda, occurring at a shallow depth of 10km.

This is the second strong earthquake ever felt in Rwanda within a period of seven years.

The earthquake damaged up to 45 schools and health centres in western Rwanda’s districts of Nyamasheke and Rusizi in February 2008. 27 000 children were evacuated from schools, while 37 people died and 646 others were injured.

The early morning earthquake that left some people injured in Rusizi and Rubavu districts while houses got destroyed in Rutsiro District, according to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR).

Speaking to The New Times yesterday morning, Jean-Baptiste Nsengiyumva, the Director of Disaster and Risk Management in MIDIMAR said that the two strong quake sequences of tremor came as a surprise to the department.

“We have received a few reports that there are people in Rusizi and Rubavu who sustained injuries due to the strong quake that hit the area.

“A few houses in Rutsiro also got destroyed.

“Well, the earthquake came as a surprise but we are in contact with a local geological institution based in Rubavu to give us more details about the tremor,” said Nsengiyumva.

According to experts, earthquakes are common in the western Great Rift Valley due to the presence of a seismically active fault line which straddles western Uganda, eastern the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania.

Xinhua news agency also reported that at least five people were killed in two earthquakes hitting the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) yesterday.

Minister of Media Lambert Mende told the media that a magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit eastern DRC at 3:25 am local time, and another one measuring magnitude 5.5 hit the same area at 3:28am local time, killing at least 5 persons, including two children.

The epicentre of the first earthquake was located 39km north of Bukavu city, occurring at a shallow depth of 12 km.

And the epicentre of the second earthquake was located 45 km north of Bukavu, occurring at a shallow depth of 10 km. — The New Times/ Xinhua.