Some residents, who spoke with Persecondnews on Thursday, said they were terrified by the shaking of their houses accompanied by loud noises, with some expressing fear of catastrophic damage if the government fails to intervene.
“But my fear is that even on Monday, rock blasting was still ongoing. On Tuesday, there was another strong tremor, stronger than the first one, and blasting was still ongoing. Please help us speak to the government to help us.”
Shugaban Yinuza, another resident, told Persecondnews: “My house was shaking and vibrating, and I could hear a loud noise. I felt it in my feet. I was sitting down, and I felt the ground moving beneath me.
Despite residents’ concerns, the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) has assured them that the tremors pose no significant threat.
He said:”The NGSA Monitoring Station at Katampe has been capturing several significant ground motions with high moment magnitudes in the past five days, beginning from September 13, 2024, till date.
“Of these incidents, only one mild event was recorded on September 13th. Six of these events were captured on the 14th of September, while over 21 events were captured on the 15th with higher intensities.
“More than twenty events were recorded on the 16th of September. The intensity and frequency of the tremor appear to increase from September 13th to 16th. There are a few weak events recorded today, 17th September.”
Ige revealed that preliminary analysis of the seismic waveforms indicates that the epicentres of the tremors are located within a radius of less than 5 kilometres from the monitoring station.
He said that the NGSA team also visited the affected areas for on-the-spot assessments of the events.
The statement added: “From the accounts of the residents of the affected areas, the observations by the NGSA team, and findings from earlier interpretations of the airborne geophysical data over the area and adjoining areas.
“There are multiple epicentres associated with the recent tremor. Most of the epicentres are located northeast of the NGSA-5 seismic station around the Mpape axis, while a few are located southwest of the station around the Katampe axis.
“The intensities of the tremors are weak to light, ranging from III-IV on the Modified Mercalli Scale, and pose a very low-level threat.
“The residents of Mpape, Katampe, Maitama, and other areas where the tremors were felt are advised not to panic as the tremors can be generally described as low.
“The agency is keeping close monitoring of the situation and will provide updates as may become necessary.
“The general public should also be aware that the NGSA Seismic Stations are being monitored in real-time to ensure prompt alerts on any major event.”
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