Earthquake hits Northern region

By Joel Phiri

Mzimba, November 24, Mana: A 5-magnitude earthquake was Sunday felt in some parts of the northern region causing panic to some people in Mzuzu City, Karonga, Mzimba, Karonga and Nkhata Bay districts.

According to some of the people whom Malawi News Agency spoke to in random interviews, the earthquake which hit at 9:58 am caught them off guard as most of them were attending prayer services in various churches.

Others experienced while at home as some had its feel at entertainment places, being a weekend.

Justice Nantchengwa of Saint Paul Primary School in Mzimba described the moment as terrifying.

“I was with my children preparing breakfast in the kitchen when the ground started shaking, making me think that it was the end of the world. I grabbed and took my children outside the kitchen for safety,” said Nantchengwa.

As news spread people panicked at different places and some abandoned business places and rushed home to check on their loved ones.

In Likoma, a fisher James Mwasesa who was on Lake Malawi when the earthquake hit said that he felt his boat rocking violently and he thought that it was due to waves.

“I then saw some people running at the shore screaming and I immediately paddled back for safety,” said Mwasesa.

Mercy Phiri with others were in the middle of singing in church when it started shaking and some of the congregants ran outside the church as others were screaming in fear of what would befall them.

A resident of Karonga, Sarrah Chirwa said that she was scared as he thought of her family and house and I quickly called my husband to check the house if it was not affected by the earthquake.

“We were all relieved when we found the house in its stable condition,” said Chirwa.

People attending a conference at one of the tourism units in Nkhata Bay resorted to scampering their dear lives following the earthquake.

“It is reported that one of the speakers holding a microphone jumped outside the conference room. It was pure comedy seeing people running,” said a source who opted for anonymity.

At Nkholongo in Mzuzu City, some people who were on a church’s veranda jumped out to save their lives as they said the shaking was heavy.

Councillor for Boma Ward in Nkhata Bay, Cyria Adamanda said that he was reclining on her couch but he felt his house shaking until after some time when he realized that it was an earthquake.

Adamanda then advised people in the district and the country as a whole to construct houses which can withstand natural disasters such as earthquakes.

The earthquake occurred in Lake Malawi at about 10:58 am (East African Time) with its epicentre at about 2 kilometres (km) northwest of Bamba Bay in Tanzania at a depth of 10 km.

Light shaking was felt throughout much of Northern and Central Malawi, South-western Tanzania, North-western Mozambique and far eastern Zambia.

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