Case file · Folklore / legend
Mount Cameroon erupts: Epasa Moto stirs
When Mount Cameroon erupted in March 1999, Bakweri chiefs performed rites for Epasa Moto (Efasa Moto), the half-man, half-stone spirit of the mountain, whose anger many blamed for the eruption.
1999 CE · 4.20, 9.17 · status: account
The account
The volcano is the most active in West Africa, with eruptions in 1922, 1959, 1982, 1999 and 2000. Bakweri tradition treats the mountain as the god's home and asks for offerings before the summit is climbed.
The sceptical view
Eruptions follow magma movement that volcanologists monitor; the rites are about relations with the land.