At least three people died on Friday morning after an earthquake of 5.9 magnitude hit South Kivu province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), the country's seismic monitoring orgnization said.

According to Goma Volcano Observatory (GVO), the trembling began in Lake Tanganyika, in the south of South Kivu province.

"It killed two children in Lwiro village near Bukavu town when their house collapsed. Several houses were destroyed in neighboring Katana village," said Kasereka Mahinda, a GVO expert.

A resident of Bukavu, South Kivu province, told Xinhua a police officer was equally killed in the earthquake.

The last time for an earthquake to occur in this region was on Feb. 3, 2008.