A 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck Ethiopia, marking the seventh quake to hit the country in 20 days, according to professor of geology and water resources at Cairo University Abbas Sharaqi in a post on his Facebook page.
“The seventh earthquake in 20 days, measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale, hit Ethiopia,” Sharaqi stated, adding that, “The quake occurred at 11:11 pm Cairo time on Wednesday, with a depth of 10 kilometers, 570 kilometers east of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and 140 kilometers from Addis Ababa. The epicenter was located in the Ethiopian Rift Valley (an extension of the Great Rift Valley).”
He continued, “This series of earthquakes began on September 27 with a magnitude of 4.9. Within eight hours, two aftershocks of 4.5 magnitude occurred, followed by a fourth on September 30, a fifth on October 6 with a magnitude of 4.9, and a sixth on October 13 with a magnitude of 4.6.”
Sharaqi explained that earthquakes of this magnitude and distance have a minimal impact on the GERD, but a future quake could be stronger and closer, posing a significant risk, especially considering the dam’s current water storage of 60 billion cubic meters.
“With this amount of water, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is like a ticking time bomb,” he concluded.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
