Search is on for survivors after earthquake
KALEMIE, Congo (AP) -- Rescuers in fishing boats searched for survivors Tuesday in a central African lake at the epicenter of a strong earthquake that killed at least four people.
On shore, some of the newly homeless wondered why disaster had again struck their destitute region, already devastated by years of civil war.
Monday's quake had a magnitude of 6.8, strong enough to cause widespread heavy damage. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered six miles below the surface of Lake Tanganyika, between Congo and Tanzania. Two small aftershocks rippled across the region overnight.
The dead included a child who died overnight after his father fell on him during the temblor in the Congolese lakeside town of Kalemie, the population center closest to the heart of the earthquake, a Congolese official said.
Houses continued to crumble Tuesday in a poor neighborhood in Kalemie, about 35 miles from Lake Tanganyika. In one, Annie Annaseasie sat on a bed cradling the youngest of her seven children.
Annaseasie, 35, said her house was repeatedly looted during Congo's 1998 to 2002 civil war and now she earns about $1 a day selling charcoal for cooking. She has little money for food or clothing. Now her home is ruined.
"I don't own enough to even feed my children; how can I rebuild my wall? Am I supposed to sleep with the whole town watching me?" she asked. "Why did this happen to us?"
Nearby, Masodi Songolo searched for clothing for his 2-month-old brother, who was seriously injured by debris from a brick wall. The 20-year-old student said he only recently returned to Kalemie after fleeing during the war.
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