By MAYA NTANDA and REBECCA MUSHOTA –
SOME parts of Zambia on Sunday evening experienced an earthquake which caused panic in many households.
The minor earthquake, which occurred as a result of a sudden release of energy in the earth’s crust, creating seismic waves, hit some Luapula and Copperbelt towns around 20:25 hours and lasted for 30 seconds.
The earthquake registered 5.3 in magnitude on a Richter scale and areas that experienced the tremor included Mansa, Kawambwa, Kasama and parts of the Copperbelt Province.
Geological survey acting director Chipilauka Mukofu said the earthquake occurred at Lake Bangweulu in Samfya.
Residents in Samfya and Mansa experienced tremors in their houses which frightened them.
In Mansa, police reported that household goods like display cabinets, cupboards, picture frames on walls, shook and some fell off but no casualties had been recorded.
In Ndola, a resident at the tallest high rise block of flats, Premium Plaza, Sanjay Balit said he and his family all dashed out of the 10-storey building.
“We’ve all dashed out of the building. This is a 10-storey building and all residents are scared and are outside because tables and chairs are moving,” Mr Balit said from outside the building.
Another resident at the same building Bishop George Bweupe said he was called by his wife after the tremor and he rushed back to Premium Plaza.
The tremor sent most Kitwe residents out of their homes fearing for their lives after experiencing the shaking of the ground.
Many people took to social media to find out if what they had experienced was an earthquake or not and for how long it would last.
Mr Mukofu said that earthquakes were experienced quite often with some being felt while in most instances, especially in Zambia, they were not felt.
“Earthquakes are quite often experienced with some being felt and
others not, and what occurred on Sunday happened on a high magnitude of 5.3 on the Richter scale,” he said.
Mr Mukofu said the Geological Survey Department had not received any report of infrastructure damage as a result of the tremor.