An earthquake measuring 5.3 on Rwanda’s seismic monitor hit the border with Congo and Rwanda on Tuesday. Several buildings collapsed in the city of Goma, raising fears that a nearby volcano would erupt again three days after dozens of people were killed and 17 villages destroyed by lava.
The quake was the largest of more than 100 quakes that followed the eruption of the Congolese volcano Nyiragongo on Saturday, one of the world’s most active and dangerous.
“We know that children were injured when a building collapsed on Tuesday just a few steps from the UNICEF office in Goma,” the UN children’s authority said.
The quake appeared to have destroyed several buildings in the city of 2 million, and a witness said at least three people were pulled from the rubble and taken to hospital.
It struck at 11:03 a.m., originating in the Rugerero sector in western Rwanda, according to the Rwanda Seismic Monitor.
The city experienced 119 tremors on Monday, but the intensity has begun to decrease, says Kasereka Mahinda, scientific director at Goma Volcano Observatory.
The earthquakes were caused by the tectonic plates that tried to restore their equilibrium after the eruption, a phenomenon seen after the eruptions in 2002 and 1977.
“As soon as the rift regains its balance, the tremor will stop,” he told Reuters.
Several cracks in the ground have appeared in Goma during the last day, a few hundred meters long that go over the city’s largest boulevards.
“The opening of these cracks on the roads like this is scary,” said Joseph Mapendo, a 32-year-old motorcycle taxi driver. “They should tell us if we should evacuate the city or if we can stay until the quakes are over.”
About 1,000 houses were destroyed and more than 5,000 people were driven out by the eruption, says the UN.
“According to authorities, 32 people have died in incidents related to the eruption, including seven people killed by lava flow and five others suffocated by gases,” the UN refugee agency UNHCR said.
The lava flow stopped a few hundred meters short of the city limits, but destroyed 17 villages on the road, cut off the main connection and blocked a major road and disrupted deliveries to one of the most food-safe places in Africa.
Lake Lava in the volcano’s crater appears to have filled up again, raising fears of new cracks or other eruptions, the UNHCR said. Gum-based volcanologist Dario Tedesco said on Monday that he feared tremor could open another fracture.
The government said a 1.7-kilometer (1.1-mile) stretch of road connecting Goma to the northern part of the province was covered by lava, blocking the movement of people and goods to an area where about 280,000 people have been displaced by conflict and fighting. since January.
The UN said it would take days to reopen the road and that it requested permission from the government to start reusing Goma Airport. The aid hub in the eastern part of the country was closed after the lava came within 300 meters (984 feet).
More than half a million people have lost access to safe water because lava destroyed one of the main sources of water supply, the International Committee of the Red Cross (IFRC) said.
“Although the lava flow has ceased, the authorities have warned that the danger is not yet over and that seismic activity in the area could cause further lava flows. Infrastructure damage is not ruled out,” the IFRC said.
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