AMANUEL SILESHIAFP
Ethiopian authorities have evacuated over 60,000 people living in high-risk areas following weeks of earthquakes occurring almost daily.
According to the US Geological Earthquake Notification Service, the first quake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale was recorded on the 27th of December, 2024.
For several weeks, 102 more tremors, including one measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, have been shaking the rural regions of Afar and Oromia.
Ethiopia's Rift Valley is one of the most seismically active regions in the world.
There are fears they could cause a major dam to collapse or lead to the eruption of Mount Dofan, so the authorities have evacuated tens of thousands of people.
A health response officer, Abokar Hassan, 24, said until the government and support agencies like UNICEF or the World Health Organization (WHO) intervene, they can only help with the resources they have.
He estimates between 200 and 300 people see him each day, mainly to prevent the spread of cholera.
Cecile Doubre, a seismologist at the Strasbourg School and Observatory of Earth Sciences and a specialist in Afar, told AFP that the region is known to be a "volcanic, tectonic zone."
"There has been no eruption yet, but magma is spreading under the earth's crust, between zero and 15 km. It is spreading in a large fissure, about 50 km long," she added. "It's a major geological event."
Some road sections bear the scars of seismic activity, with the track to Kabanna partially collapsed.
In the city, there is a heavy silence, broken only by the lowing of oxen wandering the deserted streets amid several destroyed houses and businesses.
© Agence France-Presse
