east african rift is divergent tectonic plate boundary.
east african rift is divergent tectonic plate boundary.
east african rift is what type of plate boundary?
divergent tectonic plate boundary
the rift, a narrow zone, is a developing divergent tectonic plate boundary where the african plate is in the process of splitting into two tectonic plates, called the somali plate and the nubian plate, at a rate of annually. as extension continues, lithospheric rupture will occur within 10 million years; the somali plate will break off and a new ocean basin will form.









































section::::extent.
east african rift
the earthquake occurred in the western rift of the east african rift system. the east african rift system is a diffuse, approximately 3000-km-long, zone of crustal extension that passes through eastern africa from djibouti and eritrea on the north to malawi on the south and that constitutes the boundary between the africa plate on the west and the somalia plate on the east. at the earthquake's latitude, the africa and somalia plates are spreading apart at a rate of about four millimeters per year. the earthquake occurred near lake kivu, the basin of which was created by normal faulting similar to that which produced the february 3 earthquake. the largest earthquake to have occurred in the rift system since 1900 had a magnitude of about 7.6. the epicenter of the february 3, 2008, earthquake is within several tens of kilometres (miles) of the epicenter of a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that killed two people in goma in october 2002. earthquakes within the east african rift system occur as the result of both normal faulting and strike-slip faulting.
2008 lake kivu earthquake