Earth Tremors Reported In Nairobi & Several Parts of Kenya

Reports emerged on Friday night, April 28 of earth tremors in Nairobi and several parts of Kenya.

Kenyans took to social media alleging that they felt light shaking at the capital at around 10.27 pm.

Some who spoke to Viral Tea reported feeling the tremors for three seconds from areas such as Ruaka, Meru, Naivasha and along Ngong Road in Nairobi.

"It shook the bed and. I was sitting on the bed," revealed one resident to Viral Tea.

Some Ruaka residents had reported that even alarms went off while those in Murang'a alleged that they reported a more shaky tremor. Notably, this writer did not feel any shaking while along Thika Road.

Crack along Naivasha-Mai Mahiu road following a light earthquake in 2019. /MWAKILISHI.COM

Volcano Discovery, a travel agency which has extensive information, news and photos about volcanoes and earthquakes, as well as travel proposals, reported receiving unverified early reports of the ground shaking possibly caused by seismic activity in or near Thika, Nairobi Area, with the number of reports depicted at 321 by the time of publication.

"There are no details yet on the magnitude or depth of this possible quake. If confirmed, we can expect more accurate data to emerge in the next few minutes. The location, magnitude and time mentioned are indicative, based on our best-fit seismic model.

"They are temporary until our AllQuakes monitoring service receives more exact scientific data from a national or international seismological agency. Check back here shortly and stay safe," the website reported.

Chile Alerta, an app that gives near real-time updates on recent earthquakes, tsunami bulletins and meteorological bulletins detailing the magnitude, date of occurrence of the event and time in Chile, had issued a seismic warning for Nairobi.

Researcher and software developer Frank Hoogerbeets wrote on Twitter "Be on watch in this region in the next few days. A fluctuation on 21 April marked the same region to the east as on 29 January, before the major earthquakes on 6 February." on the morning of April 28.

Be on watch in this region in the next few days. A fluctuation on 21 April marked the same region to the east as on 29 January, before the major earthquakes on 6 February. pic.twitter.com/BIAtZ620iG — Frank Hoogerbeets (@hogrbe) April 28, 2023

There was no immediate establishment of the magnitude of the earthquake with some people saying the movements were aftershocks of an earthquake that had happened in Manila, Philippines earlier.

Volcano Discovery Findings

• Areas Tremor Felt: Nairobi, Machakos, Athi River, Kiambu, Ngong, Kikuyu, Thika, Limuru, Naivasha & Nakuru.
• Date & Time: Friday, Apr 28, 2023, at 10:28 pm (GMT +3)
• Shaking intensity: Weak shaking
• Magnitude: 3.4 (Considered Minor)

No official communication from Kenyan channels was issued by the time of publication.

Earthquake vs Tremor

However, it is important to distinguish between an earthquake and a tremor, with confusion emerging on social media between the two terms; some Kenyans claiming that one had occurred instead of the other.

Earthquakes and tremors in a nutshell are both signs of seismic movement within the Earth. The difference is the intensity of the movement.

Earthquakes are more intense than earth tremors. When a tremor exceeds five on the moment magnitude scale – a scale between 0 to 10 – then, it is referred to as an earthquake.

Kenya is no stranger to earthquakes and tremors, despite both occurring on rare occasions. On October 12, 2022, residents of sections of Kiambu County expressed following a series of mild earth tremors in the area over a period of two days.

The most affected areas included Limuru town and its environs, Mutarakwa, Ngarariga, Manguo and Ngubi as well as parts of Kikuyu such as Kerwa, Keroe and Nachu.

On March 24, 2019, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake left behind a scary fault line on the usually busy Naivasha-Mai Mahiu Highway, forcing the closure of the road by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA).

According to Volcano Discovery, the strongest earthquake to ever happen in Kenya in the 1900s occurred on Friday, January 6, 1928. The quake had a magnitude of 7.0 and occurred 21km South East of Kabarnet in Baringo county at around 7:31 pm. 

This year, 59,259 people died from earthquakes that hit southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria (7.8 magnitude). It is the deadliest earthquake in what is now present-day Turkey since the 526 Antioch earthquake, and the deadliest natural disaster in its modern history