South Kivu EarthquakeA strong earthquake of magnitude 6.1 on the Richter scale hit the South Kivu province in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on a Sunday morning, 3 February 2oo8 at 09 34 local time.
The earthquake was caused by two tectonic plates, which are carrying Africa, pulling away from each other and the Arabian plate as well, which is moving to the north.
There were about 40 deaths and over 634 people injured. Over 2400 homes has been damaged and about 300 households were made homeless. Over 17 000 people were affected by this disaster. A college, a church, the local Red Cross office and two markets in Nyawere and Nguba which is located in Bukavu were damaged in the event. The quake was felt in Kahele, Kabare, Bagira and many other places.
The government provided 15 tonnes of medical assistance and WHO sent two tonnes of medical kits and medical products. Volunteers assembled at DRC few hours after the disasters to help in evacuating victims to medical centres. Tents, food and household items were also distributed.
In order to minimize the damage in an earthquake, more studies should be conducted about crustal plates of the world. This may be able to predict upcoming earthquakes, and for future earthquakes, evacuation will be able to take place before the earthquake happens. Stronger buildings should also be built to prevent a building to easily collapse.
Residents staying in zones prone to earthquake should also be educated on what to do in case an earthquake suddenly hits the area without warning, hence the people would know how to protect themselves and their loved ones.
Pang Fang Yu(27)
S1 Diligence
Approx 300 words
Bibliography
http://ocha-gwapps1.unog.ch/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/THOU-7BZ9BB?OpenDocument, extracted 27-02-2010
http://www.actionaid.org/main.aspx?PageID=1057, extracted 27-02-2010
http://www.ifrc.org/docs/appeals/08/MDRCD003.pdf, 27-02-2010
