The Meteorological Department has allayed fears Mombasa could soon experience a tsunami after an earthquake which occurred on Sunday evening.
Anxiety was rife among netizens after earth tremors were experienced in several counties including Mombasa, Nyeri, Nairobi, Machakos, Makueni, Tharaka Nithi,Kiambu and Taita Taveta.
Responding to the tremors, United States International University lecturer Scott Bellows wrote on his Twitter timeline that those in Coast areas should move to higher ground.
But speaking to the Star yesterday, Mombasa Met director Edward Ngure said there is no likelihood of a tsunami.
A tsunami is a large sea wave caused by earthquakes which flows onto land causing massive damage.
"Nothing to worry about. This may be a volcano preparing to erupt," Ngure said.
The Meteorological Department said the light earthquake of magnitude 4.8 on the Richer scale had a depth of 9.54 kilometres and had its epicenter in Wundanyi , Taita Taveta.
"Residents from the Coast are urged not to panic as the epicenter was not from the ocean, but from land, hence cannot cause a Tsunami," a KMD statement on its official online sites reads.
The quake was reported to cause cracks along Naivasha-Mai Mahiu Road with vehicles being diverted to alternative routes.
Another 4-magnitude earthquake was reported in Spain with a depth of 10km about the same time as the one felt in parts of Kenya.
An 8.6 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia prompted Kenya and Tanzania to issue tsunami advisories along the Coast in 2012.
A tsunami killed one person at the Coast in 2002.
