The Sunday Mail
Debra Matabvu and Nyore Madzianike
Yesterday morning was particularly strange for some Zimbabweans.
Having psyched themselves for a day of relaxing during the Unity Day celebrations, which are traditionally a prelude for the long festive period for most Zimbabweans, they were woken up, or woke up, to tremors, which rattled buildings and rooftoops in the eastern parts of the country.
This happened around 7:30am and lasted for three minutes in some areas.
The US Geological Survey later confirmed on its website that the eerie vibrations were caused an earthquake measuring 5,5 on Richter scale, which hit 53 kilometres South East of Chipinge.
As a result, moderate tremors were felt in Chipinge, while similarly mild tremors were recorded in Chiredzi, Chimanimani, Dorowa, Chimoio, Beira, Gweru, Harare and Polokwane.
Meteorological Services Department (MSD) Seismology Section (Zimbabwe National Data Centre) director Mr Kwangwari Marimira said although Zimbabwe is not prone to earthquakes as a land locked country, it is not uncommon for the Southern African country to be affected by tectonic plate movements in the East African Rift System, which extends to Mozambique and Manicaland.
“We have recorded an earthquake which occurred in Manicaland on the border between Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
“The Earthquake was felt by some people in Chipinge, Mutare, Masvingo, Harare. The earthquake in Manicaland, South Eastern Zimbabwe, occurred at 0537 UTC, which is 7.37am local time.
“The magnitude and epicentre of the earthquake was determined to be about Magnitude 5.5 and the epicentre is 53km SSE of Chipinge, Zimbabwe.
“Most of the earthquakes that occur in this region are due to natural plate tectonics and this is attributed to the East African Rift System (EARS) which extends into Mozambique.
“Manicaland is a seismically active region, evidenced by the many moderate to large earthquakes occurring each year,” said the MSD in a statement yesterday.
For Aaron Chemvura in Mutare, the experience, which seemed surreal, shook his children the most since it was the first time witnessing such a tremor.
“It was a shocking experience and for a moment, I thought the roof would fall on me,” he said.
“My children would not believe it as it was their first-time experience.”
Another Mutare resident, Dakarayi Sigauke, said he thought that the end, or Armageddon, was nigh.
“It started as a mild and unsteady wobble, but I later realised that the whole house was shaking. I thought it was the Second Coming of Jesus Christ,” he said with a chuckle.
However, tremors are not unusual occurrences for Chipinge, due to the town’s proximity to Mozambique.
“The tremors were unexpected although this is not the first time,” said Crispen Hlabiso of Chipinge.
“We once experienced this some years back, but this time, the tremors were a bit prolonged. They went for about three minutes.
“Fortunately, there was no damage to property, from what I heard.”
Although Zimbabwe is considered a low-seismic zone, earthquakes of magnitudes of more than 4,0 have been recorded.
According to the MSD, at least 50 earthquakes hit Zimbabwe in 2016, with the country likely to experience more tremors yearly.
In January 2016, a 4,6-magnitude earthquake hit Kariba area and some parts of Zambia, whilst another earthquake of magnitude 4,1 was experienced north of Karoi town in August the same year.
In September, another earthquake, which was about 5,6 in magnitude, was felt in Chipinge and surrounding areas.
The largest earthquake to be recorded in Zimbabwe occurred at Kariba dam in 1963 and had a magnitude of 6,3.
