August 20, 1989 Earthquake: Galafi, Yabaki, Ethiopia, Djibouti

Two people killed, 2 injured and damage and rockslides caused in the Galafi-Yabaki area, Dijibouti. Ground cracks were observed at Galafi and 4 springs were destroyed in the area. Felt strongly throughout northeastern Ethiopia, particularly along the Aseb-Adis Abeba highway. Felt at Aseb. (reference #1053)

The 20 August 1989 Dobi earthquake occurred 20 years after the 1969 Serdo event. Both events were located on the same active tectonic zone. The 1989 earthquake was located in the Dobi Depression near the Djibouti–Ethiopia border and had a magnitude of M6.5. It caused widespread damage to buildings and bridges. A military camp located nearby was completely destroyed. According to Jacques et al. (2011), extensive damage was done to a nearby border post. The shaking at the Djiboutian border post, located about 5 km away from the epicentre of the largest shock of the sequence (M6.5), corresponds to an intensity of VIII–IX on the MMI scale. It was reported that two people were killed on the Djibouti side of the border (USGS, 1989) and four on the Ethiopian side (ISC, 1991). Landslides, subsidence, and fissures were observed in the area. This event was a part of the largest earthquake sequence in the Afar triangle since the March–April 1969 Serdo sequence, which also included several events with comparable magnitudes (McKenzie et al., 1970; Gouin, 1979; Kebede et al., 1989). (reference #13028)