6.8 Quake hits Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya — A strong earthquake struck the Lake Tanganyika region of east Africa on Monday, sending workers in tall buildings in downtown Nairobi fleeing their offices in panic. The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8, struck at 2:20 p.m. (7:20 a.m. EST) and was centered near the Congo-Tanzania border, about 600 miles southwest of the Kenyan capital, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The USGS said the quake was located about six miles below the surface, and shook the ground in at least three Kenyan towns, including Nairobi. The region is located along the Great Rift Valley, which runs for 3,000 miles between Syria and Mozambique and passes through the Dead Sea, below Jerusalem's eastern hills.