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Huge crack discovered in Kenya, experts say it could split Africa into two

The said crack is 50ft deep and 20 metres wide and has destroyed part of the Nairobi-Narok highway. Residents said the area in question was intact until they woke up to the threatening opening that apparently happened overnight.

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The said crack is 50ft deep and 20 metres wide and has destroyed part of the Nairobi-Narok highway.

Residents saidthe area in question was intact until they woke up to the threatening opening that apparently happened overnight.

Experts are of the view that if it continues to grow over the next 10 million years sea water may flow into the crack and create a different ocean that will see Africa divided into two.

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Dr Lucia Perez Diaz, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Fault Dynamics Research Group, London's Royal Holloway said in a write-up The Conversation that: “The East African Rift Valley stretches over 3,000km from the Gulf of Aden in the north towards Zimbabwe in the south, splitting the African plate into two unequal parts: the Somali and Nubian plates.

“Activity along the eastern branch of the rift valley, running along Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania, became evident when the large crack suddenly appeared in south-western Kenya.

“Eventually, over a period of tens of millions of years, seafloor spreading will progress along the entire length of the rift.

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“The ocean will flood in and, as a result, the African continent will become smaller and there will be a large island in the Indian Ocean composed of parts of Ethiopia and Somalia, including the Horn of Africa.”

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