KAMPALA, Uganda

Fifteen people have been confirmed dead in East Africa following a 5.7-magnitude earthquake in the region.

A statement from the State House Tanzania confirmed 11 people had died in the northern town of Bukoba.

In the nearby Rakai district, across the border in Uganda, Mathias Kasamba a former legislator of Kibanda sub-county told local media that four people had died as the earthquake rocked areas around Lake Victoria on Saturday afternoon.

Seismological stations of the Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines in Entebbe, Uganda, confirmed an earthquake of a magnitude of 5.7 on the Richter scale.The earthquake affected mainly Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya.