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Origin - On March 18, 2018, a huge crack began to appear after heavy rainfall in the Great Rift Valley region, Kenya. The crack, which until recently was covered with volcanic ash and hidden from view.
© Shutterstock
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Great Rift Valley - This is a low-lying region where tectonic plates split or move away from each other, according to National Geographic.
© Shutterstock
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East African Rift System - The Great Rift Valley is part of the larger East African Rift System which stretches thousands of miles through multiple countries. It's one of the largest rifts in the world.
© Reuters
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Natural phenomenon
- According to a local newspaper, the Daily Nation, the huge fissure is the result of strong movement deep inside the Earth, which left deep, visible cracks in Narok county, Kenya.
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Wide-scale damage - Signs of damage were first seen on the busy Mai Mahiu-Narok road. At one point, the crack was 50 ft (15 m) deep and over 65 ft (20 m) wide, according to the Kenyan newspaper, the Daily Nation.
© Reuters
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Victims of the disaster - According to the same publication, families who live near the crack are beginning to move. Local resident Mary Wambui, who is 72 years old, fears that staying there is like dicing with death.
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Panic - Wambui was having dinner with her family on the day that the ground suddenly started to split under her feet, dividing her house in two.
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Tremors
- Another Kenyan man, Eliud Njoroge Mbugua, also saw the ground open inside his house, according to Reuters.
© Reuters
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Fear spreads - Other cracks began to appear in the city's main road after weeks of heavy rain, flooding, and tremors in the ground, according to Reuters.
© Reuters
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Helplessness - Eliud Njoroge Mbugua said his wife had begun to shout for neighbors to help them carry their belongings when they first noticed the cracks in their house, in the city of Mai Mahiu.
© Reuters
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Homeless - In the following days, the house became so unstable that it had to be demolished.
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Homeless - Reuters reported how the couple were still looking for somewhere to live.
© Reuters
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History - In an interview with the Daily Nation, geologist David Adede said he believed that the fissure had previously been filled with volcanic ash but that the heavy rains had washed that away, leaving the cracks exposed.
© Shutterstock
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History - The expert said that Great Rift Valley had a history of tectonic and volcanic activity.
© Shutterstock
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History - Adede said that the crack may have been tectonically inactive in recent times, but that movements deep in the Earth's surface has made this area into a 'zone of weakness' which stretched upwards to the planet's surface.
© Shutterstock
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What are 'zones of weakness?' - 'Zones of weakness' are fault lines and fissures which are usually filled with volcanic ash. In this case, the ash probably came from nearby Mount Longonot, explained the researcher to the Daily Nation.
© Shutterstock
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Process
- Plate tectonics is the theory that the Earth's crust is divided into various plates which move around on top of the mantle, an inner layer of hot rock, which surrounds the planet's core.
© Shutterstock
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Temporary solution - A local network, NTV, reported that the crack that had split the main road had already been filled in with a mixture of stones and concrete, and would function again as before.
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Temporary solution - Owing to the inevitability of the problems deep in the Earth's crust at the Suswa volcano, which is also in the Great Rift Valley, repair works by the Kenya National Highways Authority will only offer a temporary solution.
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Predictions - In an article on the site Conversation, researcher Lucia Perez Diaz, from the University of London, said that the crack would eventually divide Africa into two continents over the next tens of millions of years.
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Predictions - According to the scholar, the Great Rift Valley in East Africa is an area which extends over 1,860 mi (3,000 km), from north to south between the Gulf of Aden, near Somalia, and Zimbabwe.
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Predictions - As it is covered in volcanic rock, the specialist believes that the northern region could be the first to split apart.
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Predictions
- Diaz believes that the fissure, which appeared in the southeast of Kenya, will split the African plate into two parts, the Nubia plate, to the west, and the Somali plate, to the east.
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Predictions - She also explained that as the lithosphere is subjected to horizontal forces, it gets stretched, becoming thinner and thinner until a rupture occurs, causing a fissure.
© Shutterstock
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Predictions
- This process is accompanied by other natural phenomenons such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. According to Lucia Perez Diaz, fissures and cracks are the first stage of a continental split which, if it happens fully, will create a new ocean. See also: Close calls that could have changed the course of history
© Shutterstock
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© Shutterstock
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Origin - On March 18, 2018, a huge crack began to appear after heavy rainfall in the Great Rift Valley region, Kenya. The crack, which until recently was covered with volcanic ash and hidden from view.
© Shutterstock
1 / 26 Fotos
Great Rift Valley - This is a low-lying region where tectonic plates split or move away from each other, according to National Geographic.
© Shutterstock
2 / 26 Fotos
East African Rift System - The Great Rift Valley is part of the larger East African Rift System which stretches thousands of miles through multiple countries. It's one of the largest rifts in the world.
© Reuters
3 / 26 Fotos
Natural phenomenon
- According to a local newspaper, the Daily Nation, the huge fissure is the result of strong movement deep inside the Earth, which left deep, visible cracks in Narok county, Kenya.
© Shutterstock
4 / 26 Fotos
Wide-scale damage - Signs of damage were first seen on the busy Mai Mahiu-Narok road. At one point, the crack was 50 ft (15 m) deep and over 65 ft (20 m) wide, according to the Kenyan newspaper, the Daily Nation.
© Reuters
5 / 26 Fotos
Victims of the disaster - According to the same publication, families who live near the crack are beginning to move. Local resident Mary Wambui, who is 72 years old, fears that staying there is like dicing with death.
©
6 / 26 Fotos
Panic - Wambui was having dinner with her family on the day that the ground suddenly started to split under her feet, dividing her house in two.
© Shutterstock
7 / 26 Fotos
Tremors
- Another Kenyan man, Eliud Njoroge Mbugua, also saw the ground open inside his house, according to Reuters.
© Reuters
8 / 26 Fotos
Fear spreads - Other cracks began to appear in the city's main road after weeks of heavy rain, flooding, and tremors in the ground, according to Reuters.
© Reuters
9 / 26 Fotos
Helplessness - Eliud Njoroge Mbugua said his wife had begun to shout for neighbors to help them carry their belongings when they first noticed the cracks in their house, in the city of Mai Mahiu.
© Reuters
10 / 26 Fotos
Homeless - In the following days, the house became so unstable that it had to be demolished.
© Shutterstock
11 / 26 Fotos
Homeless - Reuters reported how the couple were still looking for somewhere to live.
© Reuters
12 / 26 Fotos
History - In an interview with the Daily Nation, geologist David Adede said he believed that the fissure had previously been filled with volcanic ash but that the heavy rains had washed that away, leaving the cracks exposed.
© Shutterstock
13 / 26 Fotos
History - The expert said that Great Rift Valley had a history of tectonic and volcanic activity.
© Shutterstock
14 / 26 Fotos
History - Adede said that the crack may have been tectonically inactive in recent times, but that movements deep in the Earth's surface has made this area into a 'zone of weakness' which stretched upwards to the planet's surface.
© Shutterstock
15 / 26 Fotos
What are 'zones of weakness?' - 'Zones of weakness' are fault lines and fissures which are usually filled with volcanic ash. In this case, the ash probably came from nearby Mount Longonot, explained the researcher to the Daily Nation.
© Shutterstock
16 / 26 Fotos
Process
- Plate tectonics is the theory that the Earth's crust is divided into various plates which move around on top of the mantle, an inner layer of hot rock, which surrounds the planet's core.
© Shutterstock
17 / 26 Fotos
Temporary solution - A local network, NTV, reported that the crack that had split the main road had already been filled in with a mixture of stones and concrete, and would function again as before.
© Shutterstock
18 / 26 Fotos
Temporary solution - Owing to the inevitability of the problems deep in the Earth's crust at the Suswa volcano, which is also in the Great Rift Valley, repair works by the Kenya National Highways Authority will only offer a temporary solution.
© Shutterstock
19 / 26 Fotos
Predictions - In an article on the site Conversation, researcher Lucia Perez Diaz, from the University of London, said that the crack would eventually divide Africa into two continents over the next tens of millions of years.
© Shutterstock
20 / 26 Fotos
Predictions - According to the scholar, the Great Rift Valley in East Africa is an area which extends over 1,860 mi (3,000 km), from north to south between the Gulf of Aden, near Somalia, and Zimbabwe.
© Shutterstock
21 / 26 Fotos
Predictions - As it is covered in volcanic rock, the specialist believes that the northern region could be the first to split apart.
© Shutterstock
22 / 26 Fotos
Predictions
- Diaz believes that the fissure, which appeared in the southeast of Kenya, will split the African plate into two parts, the Nubia plate, to the west, and the Somali plate, to the east.
© Shutterstock
23 / 26 Fotos
Predictions - She also explained that as the lithosphere is subjected to horizontal forces, it gets stretched, becoming thinner and thinner until a rupture occurs, causing a fissure.
© Shutterstock
24 / 26 Fotos
Predictions
- This process is accompanied by other natural phenomenons such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. According to Lucia Perez Diaz, fissures and cracks are the first stage of a continental split which, if it happens fully, will create a new ocean. See also: Close calls that could have changed the course of history
© Shutterstock
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Geologists say part of Africa splitting from rest of continent
Geologists say a large part of East Africa is slowly breaking away from the rest of the continent
© Shutterstock
What would you do if a huge crack in the Earth suddenly appeared in the place where you lived? Though this might seem like an occurrence worthy of a Hollywood disaster movie, it has actually happened in real life! In 2018, huge fissures began to appear along the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. While geologists have long known that the tectonic plates along East Africa are slowly moving apart, the enormous cracks appearing in the earth and destroying homes provided a more visceral demonstration of that fact.
Experts predict that the rift will continue to grow for the next 5-10 million years until East Africa has fully separated from the rest of the continent. This will create a new ocean and turn East Africa into an island.
Intrigued? Click on to learn more about this terrifying natural phenomenon.
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