Residents of Zimbabwe’s eastern highlands, along the border with Mozambique, felt the strongest jolts from the earthquake that shook Southern Africa early Thursday.
Tremors were felt in Harare, Chipinge, Bindura, Marondera, Mutare and Bulawayo, but were strongest in Mutare, the capital of Manicaland province and the closest major city to the earthquake epicenter in Estungabera in Mozambique’s Manica province.
University of Zimbabwe Geology Department Chairman Nyikadzino Mutura said in an interview that Zimbabwe lacks mechanisms to deal with deadly earthquakes.
Residents of the eastern border city of Mutare called the experience “terrifying.” Some likened it to a bomb explosion or a large truck slamming into their homes.
Keresencia Taderera of Mutare told reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA’s Studio 7 what she experienced in the middle of the night of Wednesday to Thursday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Geological Survey warned that the region could feel aftershocks in the coming days as geological structures settled following the temblor.
Geophysicist John Bellany of the U.S. Geological Survey, speaking from the U.S. state of Colorado, told Studio 7 reporter Patience Rusere what Zimbabwe could expect.