Seismological Studies of the East African Rift System

Abstract

The East African rifts have ranked as a major geotectonic structure ever since Suess (1891') recognised the continuity of the structures of the Red Sea wi th those of the African rift system. The discovery ot a world-wide rift system following the main oceanic ridges added new significance to the rifts of East Africa and the need for their detailed geological and geophysical investigation became more urgent and was emphasized at various international scientific meetings (Baker, 19649 Bath, 1964). In 1963 a Unesco Seismological and Geophysical Survey Mission to Africa. commented on the seismic activity associated with the rifts and recommended the installation of networks of seismological observatories to study the seismicity of the rift system in greater detail. Other authors oonsidered the world rift system important from the point of view of continental drift and regarded the African rift systems as an early stage of break-up of the continent, while Belcussoy (1964) argued that a study of the East African faults might provide much material for the highly oontroversial problem of the origin of continents and oceans.