Earthquake shakes Hoima

A locator map where the earthquake happened (red ring).

What you need to know:

  • Mr Richard Orebi, the chairman of the over 70 families that will be resettled after being displaced by the proposed oil refinery project in Buseruka Sub-county told this reporter that he wondered why the earthquake was intense.
  • Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom’s deputy culture minister, Hajj Ashraf Mugenyi said culturally, “this particular earthquake is likely to open up a rainy season because we have been having a dry season.”

Hoima.
An earthquake on Saturday night shook Hoima District in western Uganda, drawing mixed reactions from the public.
The 4.7 magnitude tremor happened 10 kilometres deep, 26 kilometres west of Hoima at the Rift Valley near the Oil wells, a statement from the office of the Prime minister read in part.
Hoima is one of the districts in western Uganda where oil explorers have discovered commercially viable oil deposits.
Some of the deposits are in communal settlements while others are in protected reserves such as game parks.
According to the statement, the earthquake happened at about 8:19 pm and no causalities or house destruction have been reported yet.
The epicentre of the earthquake was reported to be in Buseruka Sub-county adjacent to Lake Albert which straddles along the Uganda-Democratic republic of Congo (DRC).

The most affected area is mainly inhabited by the Alur and Bagungu and other ethnic communities that are mainly engaged in fishing and animal rearing.
Mr Richard Orebi, the chairman of the over 70 families that will be resettled after being displaced by the proposed oil refinery project in Buseruka Sub-county told this reporter that he wondered why the earthquake was intense.
“I asked myself why this (earthquake) was happening because it was stronger than other earthquakes that we have experienced before. I imagined that oil is bringing many changes including the magnitude of earthquake,” he said.
Mr Fredrick Wandera, a catechist and chairperson of the Hoima District Association of the Blind.

“I heard the earthquake. It shook my house but I was not scared because they (earthquakes) occur and stop,” he said.
Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom’s deputy culture minister, Hajj Ashraf Mugenyi said culturally, “this particular earthquake is likely to open up a rainy season because we have been having a dry season.”
He noted that earthquakes can also be a sign of peace of instability.
“For example in 1966, Uganda was hit by strong earthquakes that destroyed several properties here in western Uganda. That year, government clashed with cultural institutions that resulted into the abolition of cultural institutions in 1967,”he said.
He anticipated that since the Saturday earthquake did not destroy properties, it could be a sign of peace and stability.