THE Geological Survey of Tanzania (GST) has sent a team of experts to Bukoba to do a thorough professional assessment on last weekend’s earthquake that claimed the lives of
A statement from the geological body
said yesterday that more information would be released according to
researches to be conducted on the matter.
According to the report availed to the
media, the team will also give details on the various reports of the
earthquakes recorded at various centres, especially Geita, which is
situated nearer the Saturday disaster.
Grief, tears, pain and nagging fear
engulfed residents of Kagera Region as thousands of them thronged the
Kaitaba Stadium to pay last respects to their fallen relatives. While
the sickening memory of Saturday’s 5.7 Richter scale magnitude
earthquake still hangs around, the death toll as of yesterday was 16.
The Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa,
promised on Sunday that a team of experts from his office responsible
for Disaster Management was heading to Kagera to team up with regional
leaders to assess the exact damage caused by the tremor and the
humanitarian assistance needed.
Meanwhile, several patients admitted to
the Bukoba Regional Referral hospital have asked the National
Seismological Unit under the Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) to
devise a sustainable mechanism on early warning to avoid similar
catastrophe.
The prime minister had addressed
hundreds of Bukoba residents at the Kaitaba Stadium, assuring the
tremor’s victims who lost their properties, including residential
houses, that the government would ensure that they get the necessary
assistance to enable them continue to lead a normal and decent life.
The GST further released directives on how people should take precautions should the earthquake re-occur.
“In an event the earthquake occurs, you
are advised to stay at a secure and open space that has no tall
buildings or hills,’’ reads the statement in part.
The precaution from GST added that
people should stay vigilant as many earthquakes come with fire
incidents. Official reports from the region indicated that apart from
the deaths, 170 people still remained on hospital beds, fighting for
their lives, while 83 others were treated and discharged.
Though the actual cost of damages was
yet to be established, initial official reports indicated that about 840
residential houses crumpled while 1,264 developed cracks.
The ‘Daily News’ yesterday visited the
Bukoba Regional Hospital where Angela Sebastian (32), a resident of
Bakoba Ward, said she spent the night outside fearing the house would
collapse any time. “Panic was high’’, she reported. “The tremor occurred
at around 10pm.
I was preparing to go to bed and I
quickly rushed to the backyard where I stayed until morning,” she told
this newspaper. An expert from GST, Mr Gabriel Mbogoni, told the ‘Daily
News’ that the Saturday afternoon tremor was the most intensive
earthquake ever experienced in the country.
According to the expert, this was the
second earthquake to hit Tanzania in recent years, recalling the last
one, which was reported in Bariadi District in Simiyu Region in 2000.
He said that normally, earthquakes never
hit once, predicting the possibility of a reoccurence in the same area
after a couple of days, scientifically known as aftershocks.
Responding to a question on whether the
institution has released an alert on the happening, Mr Mbogoni said it
is normally impossible for authorities to issue an early warning,
observing that even developed countries have failed to do so. Meanwhile,
one more person from Misenyi District has died following the
earthquake, raising the death toll to 17.
The Kagera Regional Commissioner, Mr
Salim Kijuu, told the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office,
Ms Jennister Mhagama, who arrived in Bukoba Municipality yesterday
afternoon that 17 people have been confirmed to have died from the
tremor.
Ms Mhagama commended Kagera leaders,
medical doctors and nurses for responding positively to the disaster by
attending the injured people and those who died.
She, however, called on geologists under
the National Seismological Unit of the Tanzania Meteorological Agency
(TMA) to devise a sustainable mechanism on early warning to avoid
similar catastrophe.
“Geologists should start educating
members of the public how to behave during and after earthquakes. Also,
they should advise people on best structures (houses) that endure
earthquakes,” she said.
Mr Kijuu also informed the minister that
61 out of 170 patients who were admitted to hospitals have been
discharged with other 109 still admitted.
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