Alarm as Suswa crevasses re-appear after two weeks (photos)

A huge erosional trench across the Mai-Mahiu road caused by heavy rains. Experts says it could be a faultline on the Earth's crust. (Edward Kiplimo, Standard)

Suswa, located between Narok and Nairobi counties, is a shield volcano that lies on the Great Rift Valley which has a history of tectonic and volcanic activity.

Earth movements are strongest at the base of the Rift Valley and this is where Suswa is located. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

Geologists have raised alarm over the possibility of countries which the Great Rift Valley cuts through splitting following tectonic plate movements that have left fissures in Suswa on the valley.

These experts in the structure of the Earth say that despite the Rift Valley remaining tectonically inactive in the recent past, there could be movements deep within the Earth’s crust that have resulted in zones of weakness extending all the way to the surface and that the rains have only aggravated the situation by washing away the soil filling up the cracks.

Plates in the earth's crust can move apart at the rate of a centimetre per thousands of years. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

“Whereas the rift has remained tectonically inactive in the recent past, there could be movements deep within the Earth’s crust that have resulted in zones of weakness extending all the way to the surface,”  geologist David Adede told the Daily Nation.

Aerial view of the Suswa crevasse. [Courtesy]

The tear  is as much as 50 metres feet deep and more than 20 metres wide.

Erosion by rainwater has created these gullies. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

At the intersection, the busy Mai Mahiu-Narok road was damaged after fault line cut off the road on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 

On Monday the road collapsed again, forcing the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) to embark on an emergency restoration  of the section using rock fill.