EARTHQUAKE TREMORS GENERATE FEAR BUT LITTLE ELSE

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