Eruption du mont Cameroun.
calmels
Je suis a la recherche de renseignement sur l'éruption du mont Cameroun qui
a debute vers le 3 avril. Quelqu'un peut-il me dire qu'elle est l'amleur de
l'éruption et si des habitations sont menacees car cela faisait 15 ans qu'il
etait endormi, et le reveil a du etre brutal!
Merci
hcca...@club-internet.fr
--
Pour contacter le modérateur : fsg-...@neuronnexion.fr
Eric LEWIN
<hcca...@club-internet.fr> écrivait:
> Je suis a la recherche de renseignement sur l'éruption du mont Cameroun qui
> a debute vers le 3 avril. Quelqu'un peut-il me dire qu'elle est l'amleur de
> l'éruption et si des habitations sont menacees car cela faisait 15 ans qu'il
> etait endormi, et le reveil a du etre brutal!
Voici (en anglais, sourry ! ;-) ) ce que j'ai récupéré sur la liste Volcano :
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
From: Dan Shackelford
Sent: Monday, March 29, 1999 10:38 PM
Subject: Eruption of Cameroon, W Africa.
Mt. Cameroon in West Africa has begun a new eruption. Apparently it was
preceded by strongly felt earthquakes, beginning on the 27th of March. In
the evening of the 28th, perhaps at ~2100, a flank eruption commenced,
accompanied by a copious outpouring of lava. This activity was accompanied
by quite noticable roarings from the mountain, which continued unabated as
of the 29th. A prominent cloud of "smoke" rises above the eruption site as
well. Reports indicate that two lava flows are descending the W or S flank
(reports vary on this) and although there has been no loss of life,
extensive damage to palm plantations may result from the lava flows.
Following are useful URLs for information on this event.
http://www.boh.org/english/cm/1999/0329.441/n1.html
http://www.boh.org/english/cm/1999/0329.441/n2.html
http://www.boh.org/english/cm/1999/0329.441/n3.html
http://cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9903/29/BC-Cameroon-Volcano.ap/index.html
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
From: Dan Shackelford
Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 1999 11:22 AM
Subject: Mt Cameroon news
This is a classic fissure eruption on the W flank of the massif. There are
three active fissures at ~3000m asl, not too far from the 1922 eruption
site. Felt seismicity noticably preceded the eruption. No lives appears to
be in danger, and the lava flow is advancing towards the Atlantic Ocean.
This appears to be stronger than the 1982 eruption.
This information comes from J.P. Tchouankoue, Dept of Earth Sciences,
Yaounde-Cameroon, sent to me by Henry Gaudru.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Date: Thu, 01 Apr 1999 22:24:22 -0700
From: Jonathan Fink
Subject: 30-31 March update on Cameroon
Cameroon volcano continues its W flank eruption unabated, and in fact, it
seems to have increased late on 31 March. A few felt earthquakes still
continue despite the onset of the eruption and it is thought that this may
signal that pressures are still mounting and the eruption may yet get more
vigorous. Either lava fountaining or strombolian explosions are rising some
60m and the initial speed of the lava flow is some 20 km/hr. As of 30
March, the lava flow was some 2km long and there were still multiple
active vents.
From: http://www.boh.org/
BUEA, March 30 (Isaha'a Boh) - The second earth tremor was recorded here
Tuesday night at 22H55 local time (GMT +1) on Mount Cameroon, in eruption
since last Sunday.
Flames of lava were since rising from the mountain from Buea town at about
21H00 and a camera unit of national television was able to record images
of these flames from Buea town.
The earth tremor of Tuesday night shocked all of Buea town and the flames
hurled from the mountain were also seen from Limbe town, Isaha'a Boh has
learnt.
Tuesday night's earth tremor takes to two the number of tremors recorded
Tuesday, being one more than the tremors recorded Monday and exactly the
same number as recorded Sunday.
DOUALA, March 30 (Isaha'a Boh) - Four more tremors were reported Monday on
Mount Cameroon with the last of the four occuring at 15H07 local time (GMT
+1), as Isaha'a Boh special envoys now report from Buea, Ekona, Limbe,
Idenau and Yaounde.
With our apologies for the delay caused by poor telephone lines, making
connection to the Internet impossible from anywhere in the Southwest
province and extremely difficult from Douala.
LIMBE, March 30 - Experts have warned that Mount Cameroon may still be on
an earlier stage of the eruption and that more lava could be expected in
the coming days.
"After the eruption begins, the tremors should die down. This is not the
case for Cameroon. This means that the release pipes are more and there
may be more releases", Richard Ghoghomo of the Earth Department of the
University of Yaounde I told reporters Tuesday.
The latest earth tremor took place at 14H20 local time (GMT+1) Tuesday,
experts and inhabitants in Buea have reported.
"The continuous tremors felt so far show that the magna chambers are still
filling up and that these chambers may still give up even more lava", said
Dr Ghoghomo.
In the light of this observation, experts in Buea have expressed concern
that were the situation to get out of hand it would be extremely difficult
to evacuate the 100 000 inhabitants of Buea town.
"The main difficult will be connected to the fact that only one tiny track
(road) leads down from and out of the town", pointed out one of the experts
invited to talk on the News Focus programme broadcast Tuesday afternoon by
CRTV.
Fear of further activity on the mountain has been accentuated by the fact
that experts have quoted inhabitants in Douala (70 km away) and Kumba (70
km to the east) as pointing out that they felt the impact of the tremors
Monday and Tuesday.
Chief Atem Ebako told state radio Tuesday that the tremor that occurred at
about 20H45 local time (GMT+1) Monday shocked his storey building situated
in the heart of Kumba town.
The mechanism for the evacuation of inhabitants is in full gear, state
radio report have so far claimed.
IDENAU, March 30 - Medical officials in Limbe have advised people living on
the West Coast of that town on the southwestern Atlantic coast of Cameroon
to keep away from their homes to avoid intoxication from gases and fumes
escaping from the erupting Mount Cameroon.
Inhabitants in Batoke, Batinguiri and Idenau (some 10 000 people) are the
most exposed to these dangers, according to the experts.
The lava, gas and smoke flow from the mountain is headed towards these
localities where an increasing number of disturbing respiratory problems
have been identified over the last three days.
"We invite inhabitants of these villages to tie pieces of clothe over their
nostrils and mouths and to avoid breathing the intoxicating smoke in the
air all over that region", the Provincial Delegate of Public Health for the
Southwest Province told reporters Tuesday.
From Batoke and Idenau, experts, observers and Isaha'a Boh reporters have
observed that the craters are hurling boulders several meters into the air.
Some experts have suggested that the boulders are thrown into the air some
60 meters or more.
The mountain continued to spit lava, flames and smoke Monday and Tuesday
from vents located on the western slopes of the mountain.
The speed of the lava flow has been estimated at 20 km/h, experts have
explained, adding that this speed is similar to the speed of the lava flow
during the eruption of 1982.
Journalists and experts who overflew the mountain Tuesday have said that
the lava flow has so far covered a distance estimated at two kilometers and
that it was just beginning to enter the forest area of the mountain
Tuesday.
BUEA, March 30 - "The four tremors reported here Monday were all weak ones
with little or no consequence", an official in the governor's office in
Buea told Isaha'a Boh.
No one has been killed as a result of the tremors or the eruption, the
official stressed.
Reports from experts and a television crew who have had a view of the
mountain from helicopters have explained that the eruption is still in
progress.
A tour of Buea town reveals to what extent damage was wrecked on homes,
some of which have been completely destroyed.
Southwest Governor Peter Acham Cho blamed poor architecture for the tens of
houses that collapsed in Buea following the first tremors on Saturday and
Sunday.
Even monuments of architecture were left with huge cracks following the
tremors. Amongst those most affected are the German-built Prime Minister's
Lodge on the slopes of the mountain, the Presidential Palace in Bokwango,
the broadcast house and antennae of Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV).
After the panic of Sunday and Monday, calm has returned to Buea town where
life resumed on its normal pace Tuesday.
Life has also returned to normal in the neighbouring towns of Mutengene
and Tiko.
A statement from Governor Peter Acham Cho broadcast at regular intervals on
CRTV calls on residents to stay outdoors, away from walls and advises them
to stay tuned to Radio Buea for latest developments.
EKONA, March 30 - The small locality of Ekona, situated on the east flank
of Mount Cameroon some 30 km from the town of Buea on the Buea - Kumba
higway is rife with rumour that this town could be hit by the eruption.
It is a paradox as Ekona should have been the most credible source of
scientific information on the current eruption of Mount Cameroon.
The scientific center at Ekona hosts eight seismographs, the instruments
which measure and records the strength of earthquakes.
As a scientific center, Ekona is no more than a shadow of itself.
At the time of the first tremors and until Tuesday, only one of the eight
seismographs in Ekona was in working condition. The seven others broke down
a long time ago and no one ever bothered to replace them.
Consequently, experts gathered at Ekona since the first tremors are unable
to say with any certainty what the quakes measured on the Richter's scale.
"They must have measured something between two and four on the Richter's
scale", experts told reporters.
BUEA, March 30 - The Paramount Chief (traditional monarch) of Buea Chief
Endeley, has called on the Delegate of Tourism for the Southwest Province
to refrain from issuing any permits for people to visit or tour Mount
Cameroon until traditional cleansing rites are performed on it.
A statement to this effect was broadcast Monday evening and Tuesday morning
on Radio Buea.
The need to perform traditional cleansing rites seem to go back to a story
that has been doing its rounds in Buea since last Sunday's eruption.
According to this version, popular among the native Bakweri people of Buea,
the eruption can be traced back to a number of reasons.
Bakweri traditionalists hold that the present eruption is linked to the
death last Friday of Chief Otto Monono Ewunbuwe, a prominent Bakweri chief
whose corpse is still held in the mortuary in Buea.
Chief Monono Ewunbuwe is angry with the fact that his corpse has been kept
in a mortuary, in violation with Bakweri tradition, this version holds.
Chief Endeley himself identifies two other reasons why an eruption could be
occuring at this moment.
The first reason, according to the Chief is that at the end of last year,
six individuals from the West Province including a 17-year old pregnant
woman defiled the "Chariot of the Gods" by offering sacrifices there.
The second explanation offered by the Chief is that recently, nine students
from a school of higher learning in Buea went on tour on the mountain
without authorisation and without the assistance of a guide. During that
tour, it is now believed among traditionalists in Buea, the students
defiled shrines on the mountain. One of the students died during that
mountain excursion.
YAOUNDE, March 30 - Moslems in the Cameroonian capital organised a special
service Monday evening calling on Allah to show mercy on Buea town dwellers
and to spare Cameroon the disaster that a more powerful eruption of Mount
Cameroon is most likely to provoke.
Two other religious services are expected to hold in Yaounde. The first is
due later Tuesday in Studio One of the national television house at Mballa
II (Yaounde). Tuesday evening's service is organised by CRTV General
manager Gervais Mendo Ze.
The second service will hold Thursday outside the Yaounde City Hall. Its
chief organiser: the unelected mayor (Government Delegate) of Yaounde
Basile Emah.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
From: Dan Shackelford
Sent: Sunday, April 4, 1999 5:11 PM
Subject: Reintensification of activity at Cameroon
Following information is from a newspaper article, so accuracy is suspect.
But it appears that on April 3rd, following some new tremors, fountains of
fire reappeared on the W flank of this massive massif, and new lava
flowage (or intensification of existing lava flowage) is sending lava down
the W flank. Flows are only four kilometers from the villages of Batoke
and Bakingile and could reach them in three or four days. Eleven active
fissures on the W flank of this volcano are now being reported, up from
nine a few days ago.
The article also notes that CO2-laden Lake Nyos and Lake Monouon are now
saturated with CO2 and very unstable now.
New activity on Mount Cameroon volcano 'worrying': radio
Sunday, 04-Apr-1999 7:23AM Story from AFP / David Ndachi Tagne
Copyright 1999 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet)
-------
YAOUNDE, April 4 (AFP) - New activity on the Mount Cameroon volcano is
"worrying," state radio said Sunday, a day after a vulcanologist said the
situation was "very explosive."
Several "average" tremors were recorded Saturday on the western flank of
the 4,100-meter (13,500-foot) volcano, which first erupted on March 28,
and lava has begun to flow once again, threatening nearby villages.
Overnight Saturday "fountains of fire" described by a vulcanologist of the
Ekona Institute of Geological and Mining Research could be seen from some
distance, but clouds obscured visibility early Sunday.
The vulcanologist said the activity could continue and even intensify in
the coming days, but local people of the Bakweiri ethnic group say the
volcano was likely to calm down since the burial of a traditional chief,
Monono Otto.
They say his death provoked the eruption of the sacred mountain, which
they refer to as the "Chariot of the Gods."
The lava is just four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the villages of Batoke
and Bakingile and could reach them in three or four days, state radio
said.
No seismic activity had been recorded at the nearest town, Buea, since
Wednesday afternoon.
Some 30 houses were destroyed among more than 100 damaged in the seismic
activity accompanying the initial eruption, according to official figures.
Authorities have made contingency plans for a possible evacuation from the
area, which lies about 70 kilometers (45 miles) from Cameroon's economic
capital of Douala.
Eleven faults emitting ash, gas and smoke have been spotted in observation
flights, most on the western side about halfway down the volcano. A report
from the latest flyover by experts and journalists was awaited.
Mount Cameroon has erupted 17 times in the past two centuries, the last
two eruptions dating to 1982 and 1977.
Meanwhile the scientific and technical research ministry has warned that
the activity is not limited to Mount Cameroon and extends across the
country's "volcanic line" including Lake Nyos, a volcanic lake where an
explosion of carbon dioxide gas claimed 1,746 lives in 1986.
The ministry warned in a report received by AFP in Yaounde on Saturday
that the situation at Lake Nyos and nearby Lake Monoun was unstable and
unpredictable.
"A recent scientific mission shows that the saturation limit of dissolved
gases (mainly carbon dioxide) has nearly been reached" at Lake Nyos as
well as at Monoun, where 37 people died in 1984 in similar conditions.
In the Lake Nyos disaster, nearly 100 million cubic meters of carbon
dioxide, an invisible gas, suddenly erupted from the lake and cloaked the
surrounding valleys, suffocating human and animal life for 20 kilometers
(12 miles) around.
The ministry lamented that lack of funds had prevented systematic
monitoring of the two volcanic lakes since the disasters.
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Date: Wed, 07 Apr 1999 15:34:45 -0700
From: Jonathan Fink
Subject: Cameroon Volcano--Villages Threatened
The latest report from 13,435-foot Mount Cameroon indicates that a lava flow
passing through virgin rain forest is heading toward the coastal village of
Bakingele, prompting evacuation of hundreds of people. The flow is more than
a mile wide, 100 feet thick and is moving at 2,000 feet per day. At this
rate it should arrive at the village in about 4 days.
For the full story, check the AP WWW site (http://www.ap.org)
--Éric