Oldonyo Lengai becomes active once more
Thousands of villagers living around Mount Oldonyo Lengai in Ngorongoro District have fled their homes following a volcano eruption triggered by the earth tremors that have recently hit most parts of the northern zone.
Two earthquakes rated as moderate hit the Oldonyo Lengai (Maasai for "mountain of God") volcanic mountain at 11:42pm on Sunday and at 12:10am the next day. 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 volcano experts saying both tremors had a shallow focus at the depth of 10km.
Yet another tremor, this time measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale, hit about 100km (60 miles) away from this municipality on Tuesday evening.
Arusha Regional Police Commander Basilio Matei has cautioned tour operators against taking tourists around Mount Oldonyo Lengai, citing security reasons.
Mount Oldonyo Lengai, standing at 3,450 meters above sea level, is the world`s only active sodium carbonite volcano and doubles as the world`s only volcano that emits natrocarbonatite lava.
Natrocarbonatite lava usually contains almost no silicon and is much cooler in temperature than other lavas.
The highly fluid lava measures 510 degrees Celsius, while basaltic lava that can be as hot as 1,100 degrees Celsius.
