Strong earthquake shakes East Africa

A strong earthquake jolted Africa's Great Lakes region on Monday, killing at least one person in Congo's remote east and rattling regional capitals.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a 6.8 magnitude quake struck near the town of Kalemie in the Democratic Republic of Congo at 1219 GMT, some 975 km (600 miles) southwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Besides Kenya and Congo, tremors were felt in Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania, impoverished countries connected by a string of lakes and mountains, many of them active volcanoes.

Residents of Kalemie, an eastern Congolese town on the shores of Lake Tanganyika with a population of 200,000 people, reported at least one death and several injuries and said mud-brick houses had collapsed in poor neighborhoods.

"A child died when the house he was in collapsed during the &to=http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/97/385/14768_tsunami.html' target=_blank>earthquake. Several other people have broken limbs and are in hospital. We'll see in the hours that come if more come to hospitals," Kalemie community leader Fidel Muteba said, reports Reuters.

The 6.8 magnitude quake caused tremors in a number of countries including Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, where people fled swaying office buildings in the capital Nairobi.