ARUSHA, Tanzania, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania on Tuesday allayed fears on the possible volcanic eruption of Ol Doinyo Lengai Mountain, located in northern part of the east African nation.
Jumanne Maghembe, Tanzania's Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism maintained that it was too early to start evicting people living near the mountain as there have been no signs of any eruption.
"It is premature to start ascertaining the likelihood of an eruption and the aftermath of the damage when there were no signs of a volcanic activity on the mountain," the minister said on the sidelines of inaugurating the new members of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) board.
"There shouldn't be any cause for panic, we need to do some geological tests first, then we will be able to clear the doubt on the possible occurrence of a volcanic eruption on the mountain," he assured.
According to the minister, a team of geologists had already been sent to the ground to establish the likelihood of an occurrence of a volcanic eruption on the Mountain revered by the Maasai as the 'Mountain of God'.
Recently, there were reports of 'Mountain of God' Volcano preparing to erupt.
Quoting scientists studying the tremors, the reports warn on a possible eruption from the mountain adding that the outcome was likely to destroy old invaluable historical sites found around the area.
Elevated at 3,188 m (10,459 ft), Ol Doinyo Lengai towers over the southern shore of Lake Natron near the village of Engare Sero in Tanzania's Rift Valley.
In 2016, researchers positioned five sensors around the volcano in 2016 to monitor its activity and risk of eruption and six months ago recorded data showing parts of the volcano were lifting upwards.
The 'Mountain of God' sits less than 70 miles from where footprints left by human ancestors 3.6 million years ago were found.
In 2007, the Mountain belched out a plume of ash that extended at least 11 miles downwind, leaving lava running down the north and west flanks ignited burn scars that were visible from space.
The volcanic activity in the mountain caused daily earth tremors in Kenya and Tanzania for a week, the strongest tremor measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale.
According to Geologists, the sudden increase of tremors was indicative of the movement of magma through the Ol Doinyo Lengai. Enditem
