Earthquake danger: Why South Sudan must begin to act

The tremor which shook Juba and Torit Friday morning has triggered fear among citizens with questions emerging of the safety of the residents in the capital and other states.

Most residents confirmed having felt vibration which shook buildings on Friday morning, at 3.00 am and lasted for seconds.

According to Volcanodiscovery, the tremor hit a magnitude of 3.4 on the Richter scale with a depth of 10.0 km.

However, this was just but a few of the earth movements felt.  In December 2021, a tremor with 3.8 magnitudes on the Richter scale struck 5km north of Juba town centre at the depth of about 10km according to Geology South Sudan.

The highest quake to have hit the country occurred in 1990 and it measured 7.5 magnitudes on the Richter scale but did not cause any damages both to human life and property. AP News Agency reported that Juba was 60 miles southwest of the quake epicentre.

South Sudan falls along the faults of the East African Rift zone which passes through Nimule and stretches towards Torit and Kapoeta.

The question that many ask is that are the frequent tremors felt in South Sudan, particularly the Equatoria region a cause for concern?

Risky zone                                                           

The Geophysicist at the University of Juba who formerly served as the Director-General of Petroleum, Mining, Dr Cosmos Pitia Kujjo, yesterday told The City Review that South Sudan falls in a risky zone and the country should be concerned.

“South Sudan is located within a zone which is called earthquake zone because we are close to the East African Rift Valley, and we are close to faults which come through Nimule and passing through South East, the central part of Central Equatoria,” Dr Cosmos explained.

“These faults or cracks in the earth move from time to time whenever there is an energy coming from inside the earth, they find the weak zones, so, these are the weak zones that cause movement, so, we are in a risky zone,” he explained.

He defined the East African Rift Valley as an opening in the earth that is continuing deep into the mantle of the earth at the rate of the growth of fingernails.

“It is known that the East African Rift Valley is an opening in the earth and it is continuing deep down into the mantle which is one of the deeper parts of the earth,” he continued.

“And it happens at the rate of our fingernails, when your fingernail is growing that is how the movement is happening. But sometime it will cause the rapture, so when some of the earth down there fail, it will fall down and then it will cause this rapture.”

Dr Cosmos said that the country should procure seismological equipment to install at least three stations so that the risky zones could be known to avoid the erection of major structures in such areas.

“This is one of the places with the earth hazards or seismological hazards, and that is why when we are building our houses; we have to take that into consideration,” he warned.

“My message to the government is that they should pay attention to this seismological earthquake, let them build the seismological network so that we know which part of our country is active and what part is dangerous or highly risky areas so that we don’t put infrastructure and then later regret.”

Safety assured

Although the expert said an earthquake was a natural disaster that could not be controlled, he argued that the country was lucky because it does not have a volcano except the hot springs at Moyo Sukun and the New site.

“Fortunately, we do not have any crater, and we do not have any volcanic mountain that is releasing some gases or ash or smoke,” he stated.

“We only have hot springs like in Moyo Sukun here, and near New site on the other side of Kapoeta.

 “These are signals of an activity in the ground which means there is magma and the rock is melting down there because of heat and that heat is what is being transferred at the upper part and then it comes and heats the groundwater.”

He called for vigilance to citizens from earthquakes that might happen in the future. He stressed that when the government in partnership with UNESCO installs observatory stations, the country would be safe from major damages of the earthquake.

What to do

However, he noted that no other earthquake had happened with the magnitude of the earthquake which occurred in 1990 with the magnitude of 7.5. He stated that the country was safe and warned that people should be vigilant and should build in safe areas.

“There was a major earth which happened here in 1990 and it was followed by so many other earthquakes, some of them were what we called the after-shock but some while others were initiated earthquakes,” he said.

“By then we did not have these tall buildings that is why it did not affect Juba City much. But if we have another earthquake with another magnitude of 7.1 or 7.2, or 7.5 or so, we expect to have a lot of disasters.”

Dr Cosmos advised the citizens that they should be staying in open places whenever there is an earthquake or while walking or driving should stop because there can sometimes be a crack which could be harmful.

Protection measures

“When an earthquake happens what do we do? If it is possible to run to an open space, then that will be good but if you are not able to run to such a place, then you hide under a table or anything that can protect your head,” he stated.

“If you are driving or moving, you will not feel it sometime but once you feel that there is an earthquake, then it is better for you to stop because you do not know because sometimes there will be a crack in front of you or a fracture, so if you realize it you have to stop. If you are in an open place then there is no need for you to go anywhere, you just remain in that open space.”

However much it might seem to be a South Sudanese problem, tremors have been rampant all over the world this month.

For example, it occurred three times in Indonesia with 6.2, 5.5 and 5.8 magnitudes in different places on February 21, and 25, 2022. There were others at the Falkland Islands with 5.5 magnitudes on February 24, 2022, Colombia with 5.5 magnitudes on February 23, 2022, and Samoa at 5.5 magnitudes on February 22, 2022.

On February 22, it happened at 3.2 magnitudes in Birmingham, UK, Japan at 5.5 magnitudes on February 21, the Philippines on February 20, 2022, at a magnitude of 5.5

South Sudan’s recent tremors

3.4- the strength of tremor felt in Juba on February 25, 2022, on the Richter scale.

3.8- the strength of tremor felt in Juba in December 2021 on the Richter scale

7.5- the strength of tremor felt in South Sudan in 1990