Quake shakes DRC region

2007-02-19 18:28

Kinshasa - A magnitude-5.7 quake shook eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's Lake Albert region on Monday near the Uganda border, said a preliminary report from the US geological survey, but there were no reports of deaths or injuries.

The tremor was also registered by the Volcanic Observatory of Goma in eastern DRC. "It was a fairly strong tremor which was felt 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 04:33 local time at 1 800km from DRC's capital of Kinshasa. Measurements taken by the observatory showed the quake lasted for nearly five seconds.

Kasereka said it was not known if anyone had been killed or injured.

The last earthquake in the DRC was last felt on December 5 in the southeastern town of Kalemie. It was a magnitude-6.7 quake which claimed nine lives.

In Uganda, officials said the tremor was almost undetectable.

"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.

- AP