Maputo: Pupils were left injured, and infrastructure destroyed in Malawi following an earthquake which hit the country. Mozambique was also affected.
The 5.6 magnitude earthquake hit mostly the Southern and Eastern Regions of Malawi.
In Mozambique, the epicentre was located six kilometres deep near the village of Morire, which belongs to the district of Morrumbala, Zambézia province, with around 360,000 inhabitants.
Malawi Geological Department District Commissioner for Nsanje, Reinghard Chavula, confirmed receiving reports of damages which they were yet to verify and assess.
“Yes, we have received reports of damages but we are yet to confirm in terms of which households have been affected and how many have been affected,” Chavula said.
In December of 2009, Karonga, Malawi, was hit by a sequence of stronger earthquakes ranging between 5.4 and 6.0 on the Richter scale and a total of 5,126 families were affected, with 1,557 houses damaged. Four people were reported dead due to the earthquake and 186 others injured.
On March 10, 1989 an earth quake affected most areas of the central region killing two people in Salima, six others in Dedza and made thousands homeless.
Source: Lusa, The Nation Online Malawi. Additional reporting by AllNet Africa.
