A 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck the border areas between Rwanda and Congo early Tuesday morning, the Rwandan Seismic Supervisor said, raising concerns about a new eruption afterward. of Saturday, which killed at least 32 people.
On Saturday, Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the most active and dangerous volcanoes in the world, erupted sending a river of lava into Goma, a city of about two million people.
The area has experienced repeated tremors since then, and the lava lake in the volcano’s crater appears to have filled in, raising fears of further fissures or another eruption, the United Nations refugee agency said.
The quake appeared to have toppled several buildings in Goma, a Reuters reporter said, although it was not yet clear if there were any casualties as police sealed off the area.
The earthquake was felt at 11:03 local time (0903 GMT), originating in the Rugerero sector in western Rwanda, according to the Rwandan Seismic Supervisor, which is administered by the Rwanda Board of Mines, Oil and Gas.
In the past day, multiple cracks have emerged in the ground in Goma, the Reuters reporter said, though businesses have reopened across the city and life appears to be returning to normal for those who did not lose their homes.
Some 1,000 houses were destroyed and more than 5,000 people were displaced by the eruption, according to the UN.
The lava flow stopped a few hundred meters before the city limits, but destroyed 17 villages along the way, cut off the main electricity supply and blocked a main road, interrupting aid deliveries to one of the busiest places. food insecurity in Africa.