The Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) has reassured residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that the recent earth tremors pose no significant threat, urging them not to panic.
A spate of earth tremors that persisted for three days sent residents of Mpape, a crowded suburb in the FCT’s Bwari Area Council, into panic, according to Persecondnews.
The tremor, which began on Saturday, left residents terrified as it shook buildings.
In a statement, the agency’s Director-General, Prof. Olusegun Ige, disclosed that the agency monitored the tremors and found them to be low and pose no threat to the environment.
He said NGSA detected approximately 48 distinct earthquake events in the FCT between Friday, September 13, and Monday, September 16, with a noticeable increase in both intensity and frequency during this period.
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, the following conclusions were made: the tremors are a result of accumulated stress along the identified faults and released seismic energy, which may have travelled through associated fractures to areas where the tremors were felt around the FCT.
“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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