Azore Opio
21 April 2008
If you are in Buea, you are likely to wake up to a bit more excitement than you expected one of these days.
And if you are travelling there or through Mutengene, Muea, Muyuka to Kumba, call the volcanologists (geologists) at the University of Buea or those based in Ekona, ahead, about the possibility of an eruption.
The speculation about a new eruption on Mt. Cameroon started about a week ago when Buea denizens woke up to greyish-white dots splashed all over the environment; after a light shower.
Some people suspected acid rain but that was far-fetched and rather alarmist as Cameroon cannot be said to have industries that spew acidic pollutants in the atmosphere. Others like Dr. Samuel Ayonghe, Head of Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences at the University of Buea, suspected a dust storm from the Sahara Desert which did not meet enough rain to wash it off the sky.
The speculations of a Buea eruption were heightened by last week's earthquakes that rattled the US Midwest - southern Illinois and Indiana at 5.2 magnitude. Although there were no immediate reports of damage, there was no doubt that people felt the shake, rattle and roll of the quake.
The speculations too, were made more frightening when some local tabloids rushed the news that almost made the eruption rumour come true. Dr. Ayonghe (also Chairman of the National Scientific Committee monitoring Mt. Cameroon) however, said the rumour became worrisome when after the 'ash fall' people approached him with complaints of cough and excess heat.
But he said the ash fall couldn't have been from Mt. Cameroon since dust emanating from the top of the volcano could be carried by prevailing winds in one direction only, not in all directions as was the recent case, where Limbe, Kumba and far away places as Ekondo Titi experienced the dust. Besides, Mt. Cameroon dust is blackish, not grey-white.
According to Ayonghe, volcanic dust lasts longer; sometimes taking days. The recent ash fall lasted barely ten minutes. He recalled that the winds blew the volcanic ash from the 1999 eruption in a south-westerly direction towards Batoke, Debuncha and Indenau.
The Volcano
Mt. Cameroon is one of Africa's most active volcanoes and the only currently active one in a volcanic chain extending from St. Helens, Pagalu Island, Sao Tome, Principe, Bioko in the Atlantic Ocean, and a continental segment (Mts. Cameroon, Mwanenguba, Oku) extending more than 1600 kilometres to the volcanic plateaus of Biu in Nigeria and Ngaoundere in Cameroon. It has more than 100 cinder cones on its flanks.
Since the 4095-metre volcano began erupting before the time of Christ, few damages have been recorded in its aftermath. However, one of its major historical phenomenons recorded was the release of toxic gas in Lakes Noun and Nyos, respectively in 1984 and 1986 that killed 37 and 1746 people.
Erupting in 1909, 1924, 1954, 1959, 1982, Mt. Cameroon went into dormancy for 17 years before waking up on March 28, 1999 following a series of widely felt earth tremors. Explosive magmatic bombs blew out of two vents on the southern flank reaching up to 500 metres high, producing short lava flows less than three km in length with some cones emitting white vapour.
The 1999 eruption caused some damages and social effects. The earth tremors that preceded and accompanied the eruption were felt up to Douala, Kumba and Nkongsamba. With the epicentre placed closest to Buea Town, the effects of the tremors ranged from panic, people rushing out of their houses, with others evacuating the town overnight.
There were simple fractures on structures and complete collapse of walls especially in Poto Poto quarters in Bokwaongo that perches on the eastern side of the volcano. The explosions ejected volcanic ashes which prevailing winds transported towards Bakingili, Batoke, Debuncha and Idenau. The ashes reportedly affected some people causing irritation of their skins and their eyes.
On the physical environment, the lava from the eruption consumed about 1000 hectares of the forest ecosystem; plantations and man-made structures were destroyed particularly private houses. It was reported that most affected houses (estimated at more than FCFA 420 million) were constructed with disregard to appropriate building codes and along seismogenic zones. Nonetheless, no human life was lost. The coastal road which was blocked by the lava was rebuilt.
Dormant Early Monitoring Sensors
The position of Mt. Cameroon in a very fertile and densely populated area requires that an early warning system to detect premonitory signs of future eruptions be put in place. As such, after the 1999 eruption, seismographs were installed in the town of Ekona on the north eastern side of the volcano.
Out of six seismographs, only one was working at the time; rendering impossible a scientific link between the observations and possible future volcanic eruption. Up till date, the seismographs are dormant. When we went to the Ekona early monitoring station, there was nobody to talk to.
The only secretary who was present was shy of any knowledge on volcanology.Mt. Cameroon eruptions: 450 BC, 1650, 1807, 1825, 1838, 1852, 1865, 1866, 1868, 1871, 1909, 1922, 1925, 1954, 1959, 1982, 1989, 1999, 2000.
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