The Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) has confirmed that tremors were felt in parts of Nairobi on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, with Kenya Met linking the incident to an earthquake within the region.
City residents reported that the tremors occurred in most parts of the city between 10:30 am and 10:40 am. In a statement, Kenya Met explained that the tremors in Nairobi were a result of a regional earthquake. “
Tremors felt in Nairobi this morning were due to a regional earthquake. The tremors were caused by shock waves from this earthquake,” Kenya Met said.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) earthquake map shows that the earthquake occurred in Tanzania, near the Kenya-Tanzania border.
The earthquake took place north of Lake Eyasi and west of Arusha, Tanzania. In Tanzania, it was felt in Longido, Arusha, Mto wa Mbu, and Namanga.
Some regions where the tremors were felt in Kenya include Nairobi, Magadi, and Kajiado. The coordinates were Latitude 2.5739° South, Longitude 35.9829° East.
Kenya Met Explains Intensity of the Earthquake
The earthquake reached a depth of 10 kilometers, which is shallow and typically causes stronger surface shaking.
The USGS map indicates that the earthquake was moderate, with a magnitude of 4.5.
In addition, this earthquake had a maximum community-reported intensity of III, indicating weak shaking with no damage.
Six responses were submitted, showing shaking felt in four different areas (blocks).
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Seismotectonic Context
The USGS explained that a 4.5 magnitude quake in this region is consistent with East African Rift activity, where tectonic plates are slowly pulling apart.
This rifting causes frequent earthquakes, especially in areas near the rift valley. Additionally, the Survey stated that segments of active extension occur from the Indian Ocean west to Botswana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
“It is the only rift system in the world that is active on a continent-wide scale, providing geologists with a view of how continental rifts develop over time into oceanic spreading centers like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge,” USGS said.
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The Survey stated that rifting in East Africa is not all coeval since volcanism and faulting have been ongoing phenomena on the continent since the Eocene (~45 Ma).
It began in northern East Africa and led to the separation of the Africa (Nubia) and Arabia plates in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and in the Turkana area at the Kenya-Ethiopia border.
Earthquakes in Kenya
According to the USGS, the Kenya Rift experienced a major M 6.9 earthquake in 1928 but has witnessed only small magnitude swarms since then.
It added that earthquake magnitudes generally remain less than M 6 near the northern Tanzania Divergence marks due to the diffuse, volcanically active Victoria-Somalia plate boundary and widespread magmatism in this rift sector.
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