The African continent is splitting in two and we could one day have two motherlands split by a new ocean, perhaps in 5 to 10 million years. Geologists confirm a miles-long rift in Eastern Africa that could be a result of the tectonic plates gradually separating. This is a slow process that happens at a rate of a fraction of an inch per year.
Though satellite imaging and measurements provide valuable tools to understand this gradual birth of a new ocean, there are still some big unknowns as to what is causing the rift.
This is not the first time for continents to split. There used to be one huge land mass 300 million years ago called Pangea that started to divide, creating the continents we now know. But what is happening in African is considered the very first continental breakup that would impact modern human existence.
