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Unusually strong magnitude 6 quake hits off-shore Tanzania near Dar-Es-Salaam

A strong, dangerous magnitude 6.0 quake hit 82 km SE of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, beneath the Indian Ocean.
Depth estimates are around 10 km. People in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar Island, and other nearby coastal areas felt moderate to strong shaking. Light to moderate damage, depending on the quality of structures to resist shaking, is likely to occur in these areas. Many broken windows, collapsed walls and roof if poorly built etc can be expected.
Even in Arusha at 593 km distance NW of the epicenter and further north in Kenya, some people reported light shaking although the quake would not cause any damage at such distance.
Not many earthquakes of such size have occurred in recent history in this region as it is far from plate boundaries and major faults. Seismic activity in east Africa is mostly related to the Eastern African Rift further to the east.
There is no tsunami threat from this quake.

People near the epicenter reported that the quake came in two waves; first there was "around 8 to 10 seconds of vibration and then a 2 second long shock", a user told us.
Within 30 minutes, more than 200 reports have come in so far. The interactive map below plots location and reported intensity, which gives a good idea about the impact of the quake. So far, there are no reports of major damage or injuries, fortunately.


Luckily, even after 15 hours since the magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck near Tanzania's coast last night, there are no reports of serious damage or injuries. Had the quake occurred closer to the shore, it probably would have had a much more severe outcome.
USGS models estimates that almost 9 million people felt the earthquake, mostly as weak to mild shaking, while 59,000 people in the areas closest to the epicenter felt it at moderate intensity. This fits nicely into the user-generated shake map, based on the more than 800 reports we received so far.
Last night's tremor was the strongest earthquake in the region since 10 September 2016, when a similarly strong earthquake hit northwest Tanzania, killing at least 17 people and injuring more than 400.
Earthquake data:

See also: Details about this quake