Chasm at East African Suswa Rift: Possible Explanations

A chasm reported on Suswa area of African rift zone during the last week of March 2018 and widely published as “Africa is splitting”. We studied the chasm and the surrounding region using differential interferometry technique to understand the ground deformation during this period. We did not observe any significant ground deformation in the interferogram at the chasm location. Interestingly, we observed a vertical deformation of 5–7.5 cm along the line of sight of the satellite along the fault located at Mosiro, Suswa region, between March 15–27 (subsidence) and March 27–April 04, 2018 (surface uplift). We present the analyses and discuss the factors that led to the surface deformation and possible association with the reported chasm in the East African rift system.