Kenyans Experience 4.6 Magnitude Earth Tremors at Night

Overview of Nairobi cityscape on a cold day.
Overview of Nairobi cityscape on a cold day.
CANVA

On Tuesday night July 16, a section of Kenyans revealed experiencing earth Tremors, which lasted for about 10 minutes.

This was experienced not only in Nairobi but in other parts of the country as well including Magadi, Kajiado Kikuyu, Limuru, and Athi River.

According to reports, it was a 4.6 magnitude light earth tremor about 10 kilometres deep. It occurred at around 8.30 pm leaving a section of Kenyans concerned.

Some Kenyans who experienced the rare phenomenon reported that the tremors were characterised by light trembling which resulted in the shaking of household items.

A distant view of Nairobi city experiencing sunny weather condition
A distant view of Nairobi city experiencing sunny weather condition
Photo
Maasai Mara National Park

"I was in the house and saw the cupboard shaking for a couple of minutes and it was scary for a while. I also went outside to check with the neighbours on the incident," one resident revealed.

The tremors were also captured by earthquake monitoring sites and organisations such as Volcano Discovery, the German Research Centre for Geosciences and the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

These institutions indicated that the tremors were mostly experienced in Nairobi and other close areas.

"A strong magnitude 4.6 earthquake hit 87 km (54 mi) away from Nairobi, Nairobi,  Kenya, in the evening of Tuesday, Jul 16, 2024, at 8.32 pm local time (Africa/Nairobi GMT +3)."

"The quake had a very shallow depth of 10 km (6 mi) and was felt widely in the area. The shallow depth of the quake caused it to be felt more strongly near the epicentre than a deeper quake of similar magnitude would," Volcano Discovery write.

Meanwhile, data from the German Research Centre for Geosciences indicated that the tremors may also have been felt in some parts of Tanzania.

However, the cause of the tremor was yet to be established.

This was the second time for Kenyans especially those in Nairobi to experience earth tremors in the past couple of months. One of them was experienced on June 5 at around 1.20 pm by Nairobi residents.

Residents walking in Nairobi Central Business District on Wednesday, 18 May 2022
Residents walking in Nairobi Central Business District on Wednesday, 18 May 2022.
Photo
Bizna Kenya