The 1966 Toro earthquake, or the 1966 Ruwenzori earthquake, occurred on March 20 at 01:42 UTC (04:42 Uganda local time). The earthquake was located near the border between

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(DRC), to the south of Lake Albert. Some sources put the

epicenter The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

in Uganda while some put it in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum perceived intensity of VIII (''Severe'') on the

Mercalli intensity scale The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the effe ...

Tectonic setting

The earthquake occurred in the Mt Rwenzori region, which lies within the

Western Rift Valley The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the East African Rift, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. It extends from the northern end of Lake Albert to the southern end of Lake Ta ...

of the East Africa Rift System, between

Lake Edward Lake Edward (locally Rwitanzigye or Rweru) is one of the smaller African Great Lakes. It is located in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift, on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, w ...

and Lake Albert. The Mt. Ruwenzori region is the most seismically active region in Uganda and also one of the most seismically active zones in the East Africa Rift System and is bounded by steep active normal faults."The seismicity and tectonics of Uganda" by N. Maasha The calculated

focal mechanism The focal mechanism of an earthquake describes the deformation in the source region that generates the seismic waves. In the case of a fault-related event it refers to the orientation of the fault plane that slipped and the slip vector and ...

for the earthquake was normal faulting in type, although the focal mechanisms of three of the aftershocks were dominantly

strike-slip In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tecton ...

in type.

Damage

Extensive damage was reported in both Uganda and the DRC. The earthquake caused 157 deaths: 104 in Uganda, one in

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

and 52 in the DRC. Buildings collapsed in both Uganda and the DRC. In

Bundibugyo Bundibugyo is a town in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the 'chief town' of Bundibugyo District and the district headquarters are located there. Location Bundibugyo is located approximately , by road, west of Fort Portal, the nearest ...

, the Court Hall was damaged. Cracks and fissures were observed on the ground. This earthquake could be felt in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda,

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Gr ...

, Tanzania, and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. Landslides triggered by the earthquake blocked roads, impeding relief efforts. According to press reports, a strong aftershock on May 18, 1966, caused 90 deaths in the DRC. This aftershock caused damage to buildings in both Uganda and the DRC.

Earthquake

The earthquake was associated with of surface faulting showing a downthrow of about to the southeast, consistent with one of the two possible fault planes from the focal mechanism. The earthquake was preceded by numerous foreshocks on March 18 and 19, 1966, and was followed by many aftershocks during the next two months, nine of them with a magnitude of 5.0 or greater. The energy release of the main shock was about 2×10¹⁷ Nm. The energy release associated with aftershocks after April 18 was also significant. The sum of energy release of the aftershocks up to 45 days after the main shock was also about 2×10¹⁷ Nm, i.e. roughly equal to that of the main shock.

References

External links

* {{Earthquakes in Africa Toro earthquake, 1966 Earthquakes in Rwanda Earthquakes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1966 in Uganda 1966 in Tanzania 1966 in Rwanda 1966 in Burundi 1966 in Kenya 1966 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1966 disasters in Africa

Tectonic setting

Damage

Earthquake

See also

References

External links