4.0 magnitude earthquake hits Kariba

A moderate 4.0 magnitude earthquake was detected 47km southwest of Kariba at 10.02pm last night, reports say.

The earthquake, at a depth of 11.3km, would have been accompanied by light shaking.

Kariba, which is the world’s largest man-made Lake, is located in an area of considerable seismic activity, the Great African Rift Valley.

As Newshawks reports, the largest earthquake ever recorded in the area was a 6.3 magnitude quake on 23 September 1963.

According to Britannica.com earthquakes, are caused by the sudden shaking of the ground as a result of the passage of seismic waves through Earth’s rocks.

Seismic waves are produced when some form of energy stored in Earth’s crust is suddenly released, usually when masses of rock straining against one another suddenly fracture and “slip.”

Earthquakes occur most often along geologic faults, narrow zones where rock masses move in relation to one another.

The major fault lines of the world are located at the fringes of the huge tectonic plates that make up Earth’s crust.

Zwnews