Tsunami and Seismic Activities in Kenya

By:Charles M. Ngunjiri
Kenya Meteorological Department, Kenya
(P.o Box 30259 Nairobi. Email: mainangunjiri@yahoo.com)

1.0 OVERVIEW
Kenya in Eastern Rift System
Kenya is located in the Eastern part of Africa. The Rift valley transverse through Kenya from north to
south. The East African Rift System(EARS) is a 50 to 60km wide zone of active volcanics and faulting
that extends north-south in Eastern Africa for more than 3000 km (1864 miles) from Ethiopia in the
north to Zambezi in the south. It is a rare example of an active continental rift zone, where a continental
plate is attempting to split into two plates which are moving away from one another. This is the main
source of seismicity in Kenya. The figures 2&3 below shows the locations of Kenya and EARS.

Potential impacts of Tsunami in Mombasa, east coast of Kenya

Kenya has a coastline of about 600 km long which has some of the best beaches in the world and are a
major tourist attraction site. Mombasa is the principal seaport of the Kenyan coast. There are haphazard
establishments of settlements and developments e.g. hotels, along the coastline, very close to the shore
and therefore, future potential impacts of tsunami are likely to be devastating
Impacts of 2004 tsunami and IOTWS in Mombasa on February 2007
Kenya is among the countries in the Western Indian Ocean region that was affected by the December
26, 2004 tsunami. The impact was, however, much less compared to the devastation in countries closer
to the epicenter of the tsunami. In year 2005 the Kenyan government designated Kenya Meteorological
department(KMD) as the tsunami warning center. KMD thereafter started to establish the tsunami early
warning systems in a multi hazard framework. Kenya joined the international community in
establishing the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning
System(ICG-IOTWS) . This culminated in Kenya hosting the fourth ICG -IOTWS international
meeting at Mombasa in February 2007.
Seismic and tide gauge network in Kenya
The Kenya Meteorological Department has come up with a comprehensive plan of establishing a
seismic and tide gauge network. Three tidal gauges have already been installed while acquisition of
broadband seismometers is underway. In the pipeline is installation of sirens and public address
systems along the coastal region. Its is envisaged that Kenya tsunami hazard maps and escape routes
will be developed. Since the task is enormous, Kenya has encouraged development partners like JICA
to join hand in achieving this noble objective. The department is therefore expected in the very near
future to effectively issue warnings related to tsunami and earthquake in order to mitigate their effects.

Fig1:Geographical position of Kenya in Africa Fig2:Sketch of EARS around Kenya

2.0 SEISMIC AND TSUNAMI MONITORING STATUS

2.1 Seismic stations

Instrumental monitoring of earthquakes in Kenya started in 1963 with the installation of the WWSSN
(World Wide Standard Seismograph Network) station at Chiromo campus, Nairobi. Since then, the
station has been run by the Department of Geology, University of Nairobi. The main purpose was to
monitor strong earthquakes in East Africa as well as major events world-wide.
To monitor the local seismicity, it became necessary to install earthquake stations in various parts of the
country. Against this background, the University of Nairobi and the University of Karlsruhe
(Germany) entered a working agreement in 1989 aimed at strengthening the earthquake monitoring
capability in Kenya. Under this agreement, the German side, through GTZ, was to provide digital
earthquake stations, data analysis facilities, a project vehicle, and technical support for the project. The
University of Nairobi was to provide personnel, office space and to take care of the recurrent expenses.
The following network station was therefore established: Kilimambogo (United States Geological
Survey-IRIS), Kilimambogo (UN-CTBTO), Nairobi Station, Langata Station, Magadi Station, Meru
Station and Kibwezi Station
Currently the only operational seismic station in Kenya is Kilimambogo. The station is an upgraded version
of the old WWSSN station which is equipped with digital broadband seismometers and a strong
motion unit. The station was established under the International Monitoring System (IMS) and
installed a primary seismic station (PS24) and infra sound station (IS32).
Fig 3: 40 meters long tunnel with 4 compartments: Fig4:Kilimambogo Data acquisition ( PS24)

Fig 5: Kilimambogo Infrasound Station(IS32).

2. tsunami
Filter ports
Microbarometer
2.2 Tide gauges and their data
The first gauge was installed in 1933 at Kilindini harbour, Mombasa by the former East Africa
Railways and Harbours Corporation and was in operation until 1956. Another gauge (Munro gauge)
was installed in the 1960's at the Kipevu pilot jetty at the present Kenya Ports Authority Headquarters
and operated intermittently up to 1976. little data is available from this gauge. University of Hawaii
donated a tide gauge which was installed at Liwatoni jetty in Kilindini harbour, Mombasa. Critical data
gaps exist during the period 1976/1986 that this gauge was not operational. Kenya Ports Authority
(KPA) installed another gauge on the Fisheries jetty in Lamu at the end of 1988. This gauge was
operated jointly by KPA and Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute(KMFRI), marine growth
covered the transducer affecting the quality of data. Problems with electricity connections at the jetty,
led to return to the classical sea level data collection methods, using a graduated string.
In December 1987 Kenya was nominated to coordinate the regional component of Global Sea Level
Observing System(GLOSS). Now Mombasa has a Fisher and Porter float gauge installed in 1991 and
its data is available. A Vale port BTH 700 gauge was installed in Lamu at the end of 1988 but was not
operational up to 1992. TOGA Sea Level Centre agreed to assist by installing another gauge in Lamu -
early 1994. Both gauges are float type installed on a stilling well. Mombasa and lamu sea level stations
are dedicated to GLOSS,Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere(TOGA) and World Ocean Circulation
Expenditure(WOCE) projects. The sea level data from both stations is sent to University of Hawaii Sea
Level Centre (UHSLC) and Permanent Service to Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) Data Centers
The Lamu tide gauge is equipped with a satellite data transfer device to enable real time access to data.
Sea level data (hourly, daily and monthly means) for the Kenyan stations are available at KMFRI .
Digital data from both stations are available in International data centers namely PSMSL and UHSLC.
The data can also be obtained from the following websites:
http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/UHSLC & http://www.pol.ac.uk/psmsl/gloss.info.html
The December 2004 tsunami event is the only one known in Kenya. The tsunami came at low tide and
therefore less damage was done. However one person was reported dead and a number of fishing
boats lost or damaged.
Fig6 : Data recorded by Lamu Station during Dec. 2004 tsunami:
Water level, predicted and observed, Lamu, December 2004, 4 min resolution

150
Predicted
Observed
100

50
cm

-50

-100

-150
26/12 06:00 26/12 12:00 26/12 18:00 27/12 00:00 27/12 06:00 27/12 12:00 27/12 18:00
Fig7 :Below Picture of Mombasa gauge which is is a Fisher and Porter float type installed in 1991.It
works in delayed mode and records data on diskettes that are collected once a month

Fig8: Below,Lamu tide GLOSS Station was put up inn 1994 the gauge is float type installed on a
stilling well. Its is a real time station where data is sampled at a frequency of 1 minute then averaged and
recorded every 15 minutes. Data are transmitted by satellite to the University of Hawaii (UHSLC) every hour.

NEW NETWORK By KMD.

Stilling well of the tidal gauge at the Old Jetty of Kilifi

Mnarani club

3.0 DATA AND RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS

3.1 Seismicity
The Various catalog of data that can be used to analyze the seismicity in Kenya is as follows:
Nairobi university, Engdahl & Vilasenor,ISC and USGS calogs.In this report, seismicity is plotted
using the SEIS-PC software provided by Prof. Ishikawa.

In july 2007 Kenya was faced with tremors for a continuous one week. This is the first time that such
tremors has persisted for such a long time and it caused a lot of panic in Nairobi and other major town.
The epicenters of the events was traced near Lake Natron in the boarder of Kenya and Tanzania where
Mount Ole Ondonyo erupted at the same time. Data from USGS was used to analyze this recent event
and its results are displayed in the figures10,11 and 12 while Fig9 represent Kenya general seismicity
Fig9 Seismicity in and around Kenya Fig10: Showing the location of July 2007 event

Filter ports

Fig11: Cross section and depth of July 2007 event Fig12 :Daily event analysis and magnitude

VSAT

Microbarometer
3.2Tsunami
It should be noted that very little data over Kenya was gathered during the December 2004 Sumatra
tsunami because of lack good tsunami monitoring network. Tsunami modeling techniques was used
to analyze the December 2004 Sumatra generated tsunami. The Software used is from Dr.
Nakamura of Hokaido University. This software can be used for both local and global tsunami
modeling.
Results of the modeling showed tsunami height similar to what was observed in 2004.With good
bathymetric data, it is recommended that this software can be used for future scenarios in order to
give an idea of the mitigation measures that are required in each area.

Fig13: graph showing the simulated results of 2004 tsunami heights at Mombasa and Lamu.
2004 tsunami heights
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
Height(M)

0.1
0 Mombasa
Lamu
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
-0.5
0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 140000 160000 180000

Time(seconds)

From the results displayed in the graph, it is quite evident that the first wave of tsunami took about
nine hours to hit the northern part of the Kenyan coast. The results also shows that the northern part
of the coast register higher tsunami heights as compared to the south. This is in line with what was
observed that more destruction was done in Lamu and Malindi as compared to Kilifi and Mombasa

3.2.1 Tsunami Modeling,Padang-Sumatra Scenario.

Many studies have been done to establish seismic gap in Sumatra where the next predicted tsunami
earthquake is likely to occur in future. Padang has been identified as one area with such a high
potential for a tsunami earthquake.
I have therefore modeled this scenario of tsunami so that i can get the expected tsunami height and
then use the results for mitigation of the tsunami effect. The results were found to be important and
are being used in planing for the installation of tsunami monitoring networking and other
mitigation measures.Fig14:Graph shows results of tsunami heights for the simulation scenario.
Fig15 Below showing simulation results from Padang and the entire Indian Ocean basin

Fig16:Location of Padang in Sumatra Fig17:Results along Kenya and somalia coastline

Fig18:Detailed (zoomed)Kenyan coast tsunami heights. Some areas has height as high as 1.5m
 Fig19:Kenyan coastline tsunami heights,view from a horizontal angle

Fig20:On the right a photo of

Mombasa old town an example
of a vulnerable community that
will benefit from the tsunami
mitigation measures to be
implemented by KMD

Scale: 1M

Fig21:Above tsunami heights displayed pictorially to give a good view

4.0 PLANNED ACTIVITIES

4.1 Proposed seismic and tide gauge Network

The Kenya Meteorological Department has come up with a comprehensive plan to install a seismic
network in Kenya under the tsunami early warning system project. A master plan of eighteen stations
are proposed to be installed to have a comprehensive coverage. It is expected that this project will be
done in several phases with at least 2 seismic stations set up every year.

Fig22: Proposed network of seismic stations Fig23 : Planned Tide gauges at the coast

The Kenya meteorological Department has installed three tide gauges in Shimoni, Kilifi and Lamu.
The stations have both tsunami and meteorological instruments on board as defined in the disaster
multi hazard approach. Future plan is to install two more tide gauges at Malindi and Mombasa. This
is because the existing Mombasa station is very old and needs upgrading or total replacement.

Fig24: Showing the housing of the tide gauge Fig25: Showing the stirring well installed
4.1.1 Seismic network installations
Whereas KMD has already finalized details of procuring one broad band sensor, the German
government has indicated its willingness to install two seismic stations in Kenya as its contribution to
TEWS in the WIO. The KMD and German MOU is at an advanced stage and the project is expected to
start any time.

It is envisaged that the seismic station to be installed by KMD will be collecting the data and
transmitting it automatically to KMD central computer for r analysis, data archival and preparation of
day to day earthquake reports. It is proposed that half of the planned stations should be Long period
with broad band sensors(STS2) while the rest will be short period sensors . A joint field study was done
in June 2007 in coast province and number of sites were identified. Voi Micro wave is one of the site
which was agreed to be suitable for the sensor installations.
Fig26: Example of an observation seismic Station/Apparatus recommended for installation(Japan type)

Short period three

component sensor

Accelerometer sensor

4.2 Public education and awareness campaigns.

It is envisage that in the financial year 2008/2009, two more tide stations will be installed at Mombasa
and Malindi. RANET FM Transmitter Radios for vulnerable rural communities at the coast will also be
set up in an effort to warn the community. Sirens will installed while a comprehensive escape routes
will be designed. Seminars/workshops are scheduled for public and stake holders while scheduled
Tsunami/Earthquake drill are expected to be implemented.

5.0 CONCLUSION
Kenya is making a good progress in discharging its mandate as the tsunami warning center. The task
ahead is enormous and this call for concerted effort by all the parties concerned. While the Kenya
Meteorological Department is doing its best to start the seismic and tide gauge networks, the
collaboration of development partners like JICA is most welcome in providing the much needed
financial and technical logistics. The ultimate goal is to establish and maintain a good observation
network in order to get the relevant data to be used in issuing warnings in order to safe life and
property in the event of a disaster.

It is believed that the planned activities are going to be realized through collaboration with all the
relevant institution,stake holders and Development partners. The experience and knowledge acquired in
the JICA training course is going to be very useful in implementing the issues.
6.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
The followings are recommended:
-The City council and Local Authorities need to update their building codes and enforce them
-Buildings in Kenya especially in the city/towns should be issued with annual compliance certificate
that they are seismically sound. Those condemned should be gazetted and demolished
-Establishment of settlements/buildings along the shore line should be well coordinated/regulated to
avoid catastrophe arising from the effect of a Tsunami.
-Conservation of the Coral reefs and mangroves should be initiated immediately. They both act as a
good natural break of tsunami and high tide waves which could be damaging
-KMD and JICA/Nagoya University collaboration should be established immediately

Acknowledgment: I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Prof. Kimata in his guidance on
this paper and all the other lecturers who impacted the relevant knowledge during the my training
course at Nagoya University. I would also like to acknowledge JICA for offering the sponsorship to
attend the course and the Kenya government through the Director Kenya Meteorological Department
for releasing me to attend the training. The JICA Course programme office Matsuoka-san and JICE
cordinator Yamada-san ensured that the course went on smoothly and therefore my best
acknowledgment to them The support of my fellow participants was very encouraging and the
cooperation they gave me is highly acknowledged. Special thanks go to my family for the tolerance
they endured while i was away during my training period .

References:
--Report by Dr Irwan Meilano on Sumatra seismic gap
-Tsunami Case studies and recent Developments book by Kenji Satake
-Tsunami early warning using GPS-Shield arrays article in Journal of Geophysics Research,Vol
112,B08415,doi:10.1029/2006B004640,2007
-Dr Nakamura tsunami simulation software
-Mirone tsunami modeling software
-SiTPro tsunami modeling sofware
-GMT software
-Prof Ishikawa seismic analysis software.
-JMA seismic Station observatory installations
-Report by Z. Kuria of Nairobi university presented at a tsunami workshop in mombasa, Report by Dr
-Dr Charles Magori of KEMFRI presentation at tsunami workshop in Mombasa,
-Web sites:http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/UHSLC, ,http://www.pol.ac.uk/psmsl/gloss.info.html
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