MUTARE – A 5.5-magnitude earthquake struck Mozambique near its border with Zimbabwe on Saturday, according to a website report of the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System.
The report said the earthquake, which hit at 0537 GMT, would mainly affect the province of Manica in Mozambique and Manicaland in Zimbabwe.
It struck about 53km south-east of Chipinge.
It was expected to have a medium humanitarian impact based on the magnitude and the affected population, said the report.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Geological Survey put it as a very shallow earthquake with a depth of 7.6 kilometers (4.7 miles), saying that up to 21 million people could have felt the shaking.
There was no report on damage or injuries.
The quake was felt as far as Harare, some 370km away.
Slight tremor… Who else felt it?
— Happi Zengeni (@happ_zenge) December 22, 2018
Zimbabwe’s Meteorological Services Department said: “Most of the earthquakes that occur in this region are due to natural plate tectonics and this is attributed to the East African Rift System which extends into Mozambique.
“Manicaland is a seismically active region, evidenced by the many moderate to large earthquakes occurring each year.”
