This rift is located in the East African Rift Valley region. According to the National Geographic report, the crack is more than 50 feet deep and 65 feet wide. A section of the Nairobi-Narok highway collapsed after the crack formed. According to a 2018 report by The Conversation, Earth is a changing planet, even if we don’t know about the changes happening on it. Plate tectonics is the best example of this. But every now and then something dramatic happens and raises new questions about the division of Africa into two parts.
Will Africa break in two?
Scientists have expressed concern that the rift will widen in the future and eventually divide Africa into two continents. The subcontinent would include Somalia and parts of Kenya, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. When other countries of the larger continent are involved. A similar rift separated the African and South American continents to form the Atlantic Ocean, said Arizona State University geologist Christy Till. The rift seen in East Africa may be its initial stage.
How do cracks occur?
He said the process is very slow and takes millions of years. Seismic activity was recorded in the area a few days before the rupture. The upper part of the Earth is made up of the crust and the mantle. This is called the lithosphere. It is divided into several tectonic plates that move at different speeds. These plates slide over the asthenosphere beneath the lithosphere, creating dynamic forces. This force sometimes breaks the plates and creates cracks in the earth.
