2009 Karonga earthquakes

2009 Karonga earthquakes
Date December 6–19, 2009
Magnitude Mw ~6.0
Casualties 4 deaths

The 2009 Karonga earthquakes occurred near Karonga, Malawi in December 2009 near the northern tip of Lake Malawi in southeast Africa.

List of shocks

Date Local Time
(UTC +2)		 Magnitude
(Mw)		 Latitude Longitude Depth Casualties
December 6, 2009 19:36 5.8 10.16°S 33.82°E 10 km[1]
December 8, 2009 05:08 5.9 9.948°S 33.878°E 8 km[2] 1[3]
December 12, 2009 04:27 5.4 9.96°S 33.88°E 10 km[4]
December 19, 2009 15:02 6.0 10.108°S 33.818°E 6 km 3[3]

Damage

Over 1000 houses collapsed, 4 people were killed and 300 people were wounded in this earthquake sequence.[5]

Extent

The 6.0 earthquake could also be felt in Tanzania and Zambia.[6]

Geology

Being in the southern East African Rift, the 100 km-long Livingstone Fault marks the limit of the Karonga Basin. The earthquakes were about 50 km west of the Livingstone Fault. A research of J. Biggs et al. shows that one of the west dipping faults which cut the Karonga Basin might rupture in the earthquakes.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "M5.8 – Malawi". Earthquake.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
  2. ↑ "M5.9 – Malawi". Earthquake.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
  3. 1 2 "Significant Earthquakes of the World". Earthquake.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
  4. ↑ "M5.4 – Malawi". Earthquake.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
  5. ↑ "COMET - Centre for the Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes and Tectonics | Homepage". Comet.nerc.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 13 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
  6. ↑ "PAGER - M 6.0 - MALAWI". Earthquake.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
  7. ↑ http://www.knmi.nl/~graafdem/publications/2010_ESA_LP_Dransfeld_etal.pdf
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