The epicentres of the two quakes; the larger hit the Congo side of the border
Two powerful earthquakes killed at least 42 people in Rwanda and DR Congo on Sunday morning (3 Feb).
Among the 37 Rwandan dead, 13 churchgoers were killed by falling stones as they fled from church in the village of Nkanka in south-west Rwanda.
The quakes – of 6.1 and 5.0 magnitude – straddled the Congo/Rwanda border near Bukavu at the southern end of Lake Kivu.
CMS people in mission Ian and Sheena Whiteford are based in Kamembe, near Cyangugu in Rwanda, close to the epicentre.
Ian describes the moment the earthquake on the Rwandan side of the border hit: “It shook the earth quite noticeably, threw things off shelves and was quite a frightening thing to experience.”
There was extensive damage in the centre of Kamembe but damage to buildings in the Whitefords’ neighbourhood was minimal.
By Sunday lunchtime they had taken several people with minor injuries to hospital. At this point electricity and water had already been restored, even as they began to get news of fatalities in Bukavu across the border.
Approximately 250 people have been injured in Bukavu and at least 500 on the Rwandan side, reports Action by Churches Together International.
A series of smaller tremors followed and the government advised people to sleep outside on Sunday night.
On Monday evening the Whitefords joined the mourners at Nkanka, where 13 people had been killed as they fled the church building.
“The burial was in progress,” says Ian. “The sad thing was that if the people had stayed in the church they would have been okay.
“The bell tower fell outwards and people were hit by falling stones and crushed as they tried to get out of the building.”
In Kamembe, life appeared to return to normal fairly quickly.
“There is nothing really which has been razed to the ground, but there are many broken walls and huge cracks in buildings,” Ian reported on Monday evening. “Shops and the market were open, schools will resume tomorrow.”
But many people may find it impossible to rebuild. “There are many people in a very remote, often forgotten part of Rwanda facing the financial burden of wondering how to repair their property. Many will remain in the worse dangerous state of repair.
“We are working with a diocese which finds itself with great financial need to restore it to where it was.”