US embassy cable - 05NAIROBI5018

UNCLAS NAIROBI 005018 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR OPS CENTER AND AF/E 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ASEC, AMGT, AEMR, CASC, KSAF, KE 
SUBJECT: EARTHQUAKE TREMORS GENERATE FEAR BUT LITTLE ELSE 
IN KENYA 
 
 
1.  (SBU) Late in the day on December 5, Reuters and other 
media sources reported a 6.8 magnitude earthquake that 
struck in the Democratic Republic of Congo at 3:19 pm local 
time at a point 975 kilometers from the Kenyan capital, 
Nairobi.  Few felt the tremors at the Embassy compound in 
the northwest of the city, but press reports indicate that 
the tremors produced minor panic in downtown office 
buildings, causing "hundreds of people" to evacuate. 
 
2.  The Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police confirmed to 
RSO that the tremors produced some panic in Nairobi, but 
that there have been thus far no reports of injuries or 
damage to property in the capital.  Similarly, the Chief of 
the National Disaster Operations Center told Embassy KUSLO 
Chief that there have thus been no reports of injuries or 
damage in Kenya as a result of the quake. 
 
3.  Post has consulted with a few AmCit wardens, to include 
four hotels in Nairobi, and officials at CDC in Kisumu, 
Kenya but none are aware of any damage that may have been 
caused by the earthquake. 
 
4.  It is conceivable that reports of injuries or damage 
will trickle in to Nairobi later in the evening or 
tomorrow.  Post will report septel if quake damage in Kenya 
is significant.  At this point, all indications are that it 
caused little more than minor panic in some localities. 
BELLAMY