Nyos. Causes of a catastrophe

1987/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Osasuna

What happened last August on Lake Nyos in Cameroon? Although there is no complete answer yet, many points have been clarified.

But let us return to the day of tragedy. On 21 August 1986 Lake Crater Iwi of Nyos became the factory of a deadly gas. More than 1800 people, numerous huts and many wild animals killed gas. For three hours the gas cloud covered an area of 14 km of radio.

How did that catastrophe happen? Three French experts have responded. The origin of the catastrophe has been a phatic explosion of carbon dioxide. It crossed the lake and being heavier than the air, it was descending in slope at a speed of 50-70 km/h.

According to experts, such disasters are not predictable. Why? Because at the time of extraction there are only a few seconds to warn the population. However, it is possible to mark areas sensitive to such phenomena.