Tremor hits Sudanese capital, no injuries reported

July 9, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — A light tremor was reported by residents of the Sudanese capital today and confirmed later by seismological officials but there were no injuries and no damage to buildings.

The director of the General Authority for Geological Research Yousif Samani told the Sudan official news agency (SUNA) that the 3.0 size tremor detected by their devices at around 2:48 pm appears to be a “residual vibration” resulting from “external effect that may be man-made”.

However, SUNA later quietly removed the “man-made” portion of Samani’s statement without indicating a correction or a retraction. Scientists say that human activity can also produce earthquakes in some cases.

A recent study reported by National Geographic this year claimed that fluctuations in the amount of water behind China’s Zipingpu dam could have been the catalyst behind 2008 deadly quake that killed almost 70,000 people.

Samani said that the tremor had no impact or swarms since it was a light one and thus aftershocks are unlikely.

The Sudanese police said that no reports of losses or victims were reported and called on people not to worry as Sudan is outside the seismic belt.

Earthquakes are very rare in Sudan with the latest one reported earlier this year in the town of Shendi in the North of the country but was not officially confirmed.

(ST)