Chimanimani Affected By Light Mozambique Earthquake

Chimanimani felt earth tremors triggered by a light 4.3 magnitude earthquake in Mozambique last week on 20 November 2019.

According to data on earthquake monitoring sites earthquake.usgs.gov and earthquaketrack.com the earthquake occurred around 7PM on Wednesday.

The epicenter was about 108km from Chimanimani and 4.3 is considered a light earthquake which does not cause any significant destruction.

 

Local reports in Zimbabwe (see: https://www.263chat.com/earth-tremor-hits-manicaland) suggest that tremors were also felt on Friday but these are yet to be confirmed.

 

How earthquake are measured

The magnitude of an Earthquake is measured using what is called Richter with higher numbers showing the more severity.

•  2.5 or less is very low – usually not felt by people
• 3 -3.9 is minor – occur frequently and may be felt but can be felt but generally cause no damage.
• 4-4.9 is light – may also be felt but cause little or no damage
• 5 – 5.9 is moderate – causes slight damage to buildings and other structures. There are about 500 of these around the globe every year.
• 6 – 6.9 is strong – usually cause some significant damage. if the area is populated, damage can be severe
• 7 – 7.9 is major – they cause very serious damage. about 20 occur globally every year
• 8 or more is considered great – these cause widespread death and damage and can destroy whole communities near the epicenter. they occur once or so every 10 years.