MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) - A powerful earthquake struck Mozambique early Thursday morning, shaking buildings and forcing people from hundreds of miles around to dash into the streets for safety.

The magnitude-7.5 quake struck at 12:19 a.m. and was felt as far away as Durban, South Africa, and Harare, Zimbabwe, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Buildings swayed and doors shook in Maputo, the capital of the Indian Ocean nation of Mozambique, officials said.

There was no immediate word of injuries or damage there, but state radio said there was an unconfirmed report of a collapsed building in Beira, a coastal port 140 miles southwest of the epicenter.

In Beira, Tivoli Hotel manager Johana Neves said none of her guests were hurt but many tourists ran terrified from their rooms when the temblor struck.

"It felt like the building was going to fall down and it went on for a long time, the trembling," she said by telephone. "It felt like you were in a boat, it was shaking everything yet, it's strange, nothing is broken, even the windows."

She said guests had returned to their rooms. But Antonio Dinis, who also was at the hotel, said the streets were full of people afraid to go back home or sleep.

In Maputo, hundreds of people fled their homes for the street, as they did in Chimoyo, some 300 miles from Beira near the border with Zimbabwe, the radio station said.

A newspaper editor in Maputo said he was in the 11th floor of an apartment building that was rocked by the quake.

"It shook a lot. We could feel it very strongly," Fernando Velosa, editor of Jornal de Mocambique, told Lisbon radio station TSF. Portugal is the former colonial ruler of the African nation.

The quake was shallow, which increases the potential for damage, said Dale Grant, a geophysics with the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., which is a clearinghouse for temblors worldwide.

A quake nearing magnitude 8 is capable of causing tremendous damage.

"It was felt very widely in in the epicentral area, though it's not a very heavily populated area," Grant said. "There is certain to be damage, but so far, we've had absolutely no word of damage."

---

reply

Thanks, posted

Brian

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MOZAMBIQUE_QUAKE?SITE=AZPHG&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Feb 22, 11:33 PM EST

Magnitude 7.5 earthquake hits Mozambique

By EMMANUEL CAMILLO
Associated Press Writer

MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) -- A powerful earthquake struck Mozambique early Thursday morning, shaking buildings and forcing people from hundreds of miles around to dash into the streets for safety. There were no early reports of injuries.

The magnitude-7.5 quake struck at 12:19 a.m. in southern Mozambique, 140 miles southwest of the coastal city of Beira, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The temblor was felt in the neighboring nations of Zimbabwe and Zambia and as far south as Durban, South Africa, 800 miles away.

Elias Daudi, Mozambique's national director of energy, said on state radio that authorities still do not have any information on casualties or the extent of the damage. He also urged people not to return to their buildings because of possible aftershocks.

Mozambican state radio said the quake was centered near Espungabera, a small farming town in a remote and sparsely populated area near the border with Zimbabwe.

The quake shook buildings and sent frightened people into the streets in Mutare and Masvingo, two Zimbabwean cities about 100 miles from the epicenter. There were no reports of damage in Zimbabwe.

In Beira, Tivoli Hotel manager Johana Neves said none of her guests was hurt but many tourists awoke and ran terrified from the building.

"It felt like the building was going to fall down and it went on for a long time, the trembling," she said by telephone. "It felt like you were in a boat, it was shaking everything yet, it's strange, nothing is broken, even the windows."

Hotel guest Antonio Dinis said the streets were full of people afraid to go back home.

State radio said there was an unconfirmed report of a collapsed building in Beira.

Buildings swayed in Maputo, the capital of the this Indian Ocean nation, 400 miles south of Beira. Radio reports said hundreds of people fled their homes for the street, as they did in Chimoyo, some 300 miles west of Beira near the border with Zimbabwe.

A newspaper editor in Maputo said he was in the 11th floor of an apartment building that was rocked by the quake.

"It shook a lot. We could feel it very strongly," Fernando Velosa, editor of Jornal de Mocambique, told Lisbon radio station TSF. Portugal is the former colonial ruler of the African nation.

The quake was shallow, which increases the potential for damage, said Dale Grant, a scientist with the USGS in Golden, Colo., which is a clearinghouse for temblors worldwide. A quake nearing magnitude 8 is capable of causing tremendous damage.

At least five aftershocks were immediately recorded and more were expected in the coming days because of the quake's size, USGS said.

The temblor occurred near the southern end of the East African rift system, a seismically active zone. Since 1900, the largest quake measured on the rift system had a magnitude-7.6, according to the USGS.