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Issue 00478 |
July 21 - 27, 2007 |
issn 0856 - 9135 |
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Front Page 3 |
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Earthquakes put Arusha in panic
By Edward Selasini Arusha residents were last Sunday and Tuesday struck with shock and awe when earthquakes estimated at about 5 on the Richter scale hit the city and its environs. Sunday’s tremor which lasted 25 seconds at about 2.25 p.m sent most people out of their buildings panicking. The impact was felt mostly in medium and high rise buildings which were shaken like tree branches during a wind storm. "I felt dizzy and got confused when I learnt that everything was shaking. I started running out of the office but when stepping out the door everything calmed down, said a reporter who was filing a story at the offices of the Arusha Times located at the Safari Hotel Business Centre. The tremor, he said, started as a minor quake before developing into a full-scale earthquake that caused panic in the building. Outside the building people gathered asking what had happened many of them not having an idea of what an earthquake is like. A security guard at the building identified as Wilbert Manang said he was standing against one of the pillars of the building at the ground floor when he noticed the pillar shaking and had to run out of the building fearing the whole building would collapse. The Safari Hotel Front Office Manager Hans Makundi told Arusha Times that some of his customers who were in their rooms had to come down as fast as they could and all of them visibly shaken. "We felt the tremor at about 2:25 p.m. I was working on my computer and I found myself moving with my chair from my desk and I asked myself who is pulling me?" said Makundi. Another earthquake occurred at Ngorongoro District in Loliondo Division last week on the night of June 13 at 1 a.m According to one of the Oxfam GB officers Godfrey Hoya who is based in Loliondo people were left in a state of panic for the rest of the night fearing aftershocks. Tuesday’s major tremor at about 5.19 p.m shook the whole of Arusha with severity that has never been experienced before in this area. The tremor which measured 5.5 on the Richter scale had its epicentre at around lake Natron. Many people called the Arusha Times asking what they should do in case of another earthquake. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that the tremors had hit also Nairobi and Nakuru cities. Apart from the two cities other parts where the tremor was felt include Kiambu, Murang’a South, and Kirinyaga districts and other towns along the Great Rift Valley. In Nairobi, the tremor shook several buildings, including the Nation Centre, which houses the Nation Media Group, leaving hordes of scribes mouth agape. BBC said the Tanzania tremor had
started at Lake Natron which is also along the Great Rift Valley. The
tremors, which hit the country last Sunday, were aftershocks of an
earthquake whose epicenter was traced to northeastern Tanzania and
measured between 4.5 and 5.4 on the Richter scale. |
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