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490m/- tremor detectors long missing
2007-07-26 10:00:20
By Adam Ihucha, Arusha
Prison wardens will soon be given yet another responsibility of guarding earthquake detectors as the government resolves to install the devices inside prisons premises.
The move, according to the Head of Geological Survey Department, Prof. Abdulkarim Mruma, aims at curbing the on-going wave of stealing the devices.
Prof. Mruma said seven seismic activity detectors that had been installed in various places such as Tabora, Dodoma, Songea, Itaka in Mbozi, Mbeya and Longido in Arusha, have been stolen.
According to him, the theft was the reason behind the inability to sense the recent tremors, and local geologists only had to pick up bits at the end of the weeklong seismic activities.
Prof. Mruma told this paper in an exclusive interview that the cost of tremor detectors was comparatively high since one sensing device cost up to US$ 70,000 (Over 70,000,000m/-).
``We have resolved that the new microelectrodes seismic movement detectors, once landed in the country, will have to be installed inside various prison premises so as to guarantee both their safety and uninterrupted operations,`` he said.
Meanwhile, the government has allayed public fears that Tanzania’s only active volcano, Oldonyo Lengai or Mountain of God, is going to erupt.
``After a series of tremors had hit Northern Tanzania from July 12 to 18, the situation at Oldonyo Lengai is now calm, if our physical site visits and geologists` explanations are anything to go by,`` said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister`s Office (Disaster Management and HIV/AIDS) Dr. Lucas Siyame.
Addressing a press conference yesterday, Dr. Siyame, who was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy, William Ngeleja, said the possibility of the Mountain of God erupting was very minimal as the tremors have now ceased.
The soft spoken Deputy Minister said that during their physical tour at Mountain Oldonyo Lengai, they came across a number of tourists flocking around the spectacular mountain.
``We also ascended the mountain to a certain height. For sure, there is no more serious danger. People should not worry anymore,`` Dr. Siyame said.
He, however, cautioned tour operators to take extra care of their visitors while at the mountain because no one knew exactly when an earthquake or volcanic eruption would occur.
For his part, Ngeleja said his authority was still keeping tight watch over the country`s earth movements through the Geological Survey Department.
So far, he said, there was no major destruction that had been caused by the tremor and its aftershocks.
``We have advised people living around the mountain to move away. The eruptions occur almost annually, but we never know when they will cause a big loss,`` Ngeleja stressed.
The village, at the foot of the Mountain of God, is inhabited by an estimated 5,000 people, some of whose houses had developed cracks after the intermittent tremors.
Prof. Abdulkarim Mruma said those living close to the Oldoinyo Lengai should stay at least 50km away from the mountain.
Two earthquakes and after-shocks rated as moderate hit the Oldonyo Lengai between July 12 and 18. The first, which measured 5.4 on the Richter scale, had its epicentre 13km east of the volcano.
The second measured 4.7 on the Richter scale, and had its epicentre 20km west of the volcano, with experts saying both tremors had a shallow focus at the depth of 10km.
Another tremor, this time measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale, hit about 100km (60 miles) away from this municipality on Tuesday evening.
The US Geological Survey, which has been monitoring the tremors, said the information available was ``not sufficient to determine if the current activity reflects a geologic process that might lead to a change in the eruptive behavior of Oldonyo Lengai``.
Oldonyo Lengai, which stands about 160 kilometres west of the Kilimanjaro, erupted in 1966 and 1988. In 1983, it spewed smoke, forcing thousands of residents to flee.
The last major eruption of the volcano was in March 2006, where an estimated 3,000 people fled to safer ground within hours of the eruption, most trekking to villages in neighbouring districts.
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