The structural and chemical characteristics of pseudotachylytes generated during seismic events along a Pan-African fault zone in Kenya document an evolution consisting of two principal steps. In the first stage, crushing of the host rock during the onset of ‘frictional sliding’ led to preferential disruption of biotite and hornblende, due to their low fracture toughness and low shear yield strength. The products of this first stage are preserved as thin cataclasite zones along the margins of the pseudotachylyte veins. Melting of the crushed host rock occurred during the second stage, due to the heat generated by ‘frictional sliding’, grain size reduction, and the release of water from biotite and hornblende. The chemical and mineralogical composition of the cataclasite and the increasing temperature during seismic slip were the main factors that controlled the composition of two chemically distinct pseudotachylyte melts. During rapid cooling, amphibole microlites (melt 1) and plagioclase microlites (melt 2) crystallized from the two pseudotachylyte melts.