Panic gripped Kenyans on Wednesday night after tremors shook buildings in Kitale and outlying towns of the North Rift.
The Principle Superintending Geologist Mr. Henry Kamunge in the Department of Geology said they were not aware of the occurrence.
Andrew Metto told the standard they also experienced the tremor that lasted between 40 seconds to one minute in Iten, Elgeyo/Marakwet county at around 10:20 pm.
“I felt a sudden but firm shake of the house and got confused of the possible cause and outcome because it took me by surprise but later realized it was a tremor after regaining my confidence, he explained.
Irene Mukwana shared a similar experience in Kitale at the same particular moment only that it lasted for about two minutes.
Kiitale, located on longitude of 34.977655 and latitude of 1.017655is approximately 75 kilometers from Iten located at the longitude of 35.507655 and latitude of 0.587655.
“I first thought I was having migraines before the house began shaking gripping my attention because this was the first time I was experiencing this,” he revealed.
Mr. Kamunge however told the standard that it must have been localized and of a lower scale and therefore no need of causing alarm.
“The problem with earthquakes is that you know about them after they have occurred but we are in the process of setting up Seismic equipment country for future updates on the magnitude of similar occurrences,” he said
He noted that the nearest seismic equipment in the region is located in Lodwar and was set up by the Kenya Meteorological Department.
“We require at least three stations in an area in order to establish the position of the quake and the energy released in order to determine the amount of associated destruction,” he explained.
The geological expert said the equipment determine whether the tremor it will be shallow or deep and thus important in advising the immediate community.
“Shallow quakes cause more damage especially in a heavily built area especially if the buildings cannot withstand such magnitude as compared to deep ones that occur deep within the rocks,” he said.
He rated the Wednesday quake at a magnitude of three adding that they occur frequently in most parts of the country but at a very low magnitude on the ritcher scale.
Kamunge said Kenya is not known for high scale earthquakes that have rocked other countries in the region.
“The most memorable occurred in 1928 in Subukia at a scale of 7, right at the heart of the Rif Valley killing several people may be because of the very low population at that given time,” he backdated.
He also noted one that occurred in Southern Tanzania in 2010 killing four people despite being at the same magnitude with the one that killed 300, 000 people in Haiti.
The most immediate notable earth tremors in Kenya were felt last year on 17th April at around 5am in various parts of the country linked to a magnitude 4.9 earth-quake, more than 5, 000kms inside the Indian Ocean 3hrs earlier.
