East African Rift, Eastern Branch
Kenya / Tanzania · continental rift · 5275.3 km of mapped active fault in 66 traces
background as of 7 November 2026.
consistent with baseline
| Window | the last 30.0 days |
|---|---|
| Earthquakes counted | 0 at M4.5 or above |
| Expected in that window | 0.17 |
What this system normally does
From 1995 to 2025 the catalogue holds 61 earthquakes of M4.5 or larger attributable to this system: about 2.03 a year. That figure is what "elevated" on this page is measured against.
The fault itself
| Mapped length | 5275.3 km |
|---|---|
| Traces | 66 |
| Tectonic setting | continental rift |
| Slip types | Normal |
| Depth attributed to it | down to 50.0 km |
| Extent | -4.62 to 4.65 latitude, 34.07 to 36.96 longitude |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold 3 significant earthquakes attributed to this system since 1928.
The deadliest was the 7 May 1964 magnitude 6.0 earthquake (Tanzania), which killed one person.
The strongest earthquake on record here was magnitude 6.9, on 6 January 1928 (Kenya: Subukia).
The most recent entry is the 20 March 1968 magnitude 4.6 earthquake (Kenya: Homa Bay, Usiri, Got Kokech), which killed one person.
Across the entries that record a death toll, 2 people died.
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 May 1964 | magnitude 6.0 earthquake | Tanzania | 1 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 20 March 1968 | magnitude 4.6 earthquake | Kenya: Homa Bay, Usiri, Got Kokech | 1 dead, damage under $1 million |
| 6 January 1928 | magnitude 6.9 earthquake | Kenya: Subukia | damage $1 to 5 million |
A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.
Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.
Where these numbers come from
Fault geometry, length and segment counts: GEM Global Active Faults Database (GEM GAF-DB), GEM Foundation, https://github.com/GEMScienceTools/gem-global-active-faults Licence: CC-BY-SA-4.0. Figures derived from it here are offered under the same licence. Earthquake counts, magnitudes and depths: United States Geological Survey, public domain. The activity judgement is ours, computed from those two inputs, and is not a statement by either agency.