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Internet Cable Rupture in West Africa Caused by Seismic Activity, Operator Says

CC0 / GAGAN / Equipment Operator 1st Class Leroy Schnathorst, assigned to Underwater Construction Team
Equipment Operator 1st Class Leroy Schnathorst, assigned to Underwater Construction Team - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 16.03.2024
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On Thursday, the monitoring group NetBlocks reported significant Internet outages in 13 African countries, with Internet service providers indicating numerous disruptions to undersea cables.
The rupture of four Internet cables that occurred on March 14, in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Côte d'Ivoire was the result of seismic activity in the region, according to the Nigerian company MainOne, which operates one of the damaged cables.

"Our preliminary analysis would suggest some form of seismic activity on the seabed resulted in a break to the cable, but we will obtain more data when the cable is retrieved during the repair exercise," the statement said.

According to the company, the rupture occurred in a section at a depth of 3 kilometers, making it unlikely that the cable was cut by humans.
The steps to be taken include first identifying and assigning the vessel to obtain the necessary spare parts for the repair, and then dispatching the vessel to the location of the fault to perform the repair, the process which can last five weeks, the provider added.
A computer - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 14.03.2024
Sub-Saharan Africa
Africa Facing Serious Internet Disruption, Monitoring Group Says
MainOne said it is working with the Atlantic Cable Maintenance and Repair Agreement, a non-profit cooperative cable maintenance agreement, to deploy the vessel.
West Africa Cable System, MainOne, South Atlantic 3, and ACE submarine cables were affected.
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, and South Africa experienced reduced Internet traffic.
According to the latest data from the monitoring group NetBlocks as of Friday, the country most affected by the Internet outage was Côte d'Ivoire, whose Internet connectivity was operating at only 4% of its expected capacity.
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