THE Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) has confirmed earth tremors in some parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), urging residents not to panic.

The agency described the tremors as low and posing no threat.

It stated this in a statement signed by its director-general, Olusegun Ige, on Wednesday, September 18.

The statement followed days of panic and confusion among the people of Katampe, Mpape, Maitama and their environs who have been experiencing the tremors for days.

For instance, many residents of Katampe 2 in Mpape were seen in different groups on Tuesday, September 17, discussing the constant noise and ground shaking experienced in the last few days with many suggesting it was a warning for a possible earthquake.

But the statement by the NGSA allayed the fears and stated that its monitoring station (NGSA-5) at Katampe had been capturing several significant ground motions with high moment magnitudes (Mw) in the past five days, beginning from September 13, 2024, to September 17.

The statement said only one mild event was recorded on September 13 and six of the events were captured on the 14th of September while over 21 events were captured on September 15 with higher intensities.

The statement partly reads “More than twenty events were recorded on the 16th of September. The intensity and frequency of the tremor appear to increase from the 13 through to the 16th of September. There are a few weak events recorded today, 17th September.

“Preliminary analysis of the waveforms showed that the sources of the ground motions are less than five kilometres away from the monitoring station.”

The NGSA said its team also visited the affected areas for an on-the-spot assessment of the events.

It added that 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, it came up with the following conclusions:

• The tremors were 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 a close monitoring of the situation and will provide updates as may become necessary.

The agency urged the general public to be aware that the NGSA Seismic Stations are being monitored in real-time to ensure prompt alerts on any major event.

NGSA advised residents of the affected areas to calm down as the situation is being monitored.

Bankole ABE

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