*Prof. Olusegun Ige, Director-General of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, assures the residents of Abuja and environs of safety, urging the residents of Mpape, Katampe, Maitama, and other areas tremors were felt recently to not panic as the tremors could be generally described as 鈥榣ow鈥�

Alexander Davis | 绿帽献妻

The Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) has allayed fears over earth tremors experienced in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), urging residents not to panic over the development.

Prof. Olusegun Ige, Director-General of NGSA, stated that NGSA monitored the tremors and found them to be low, and they didn鈥檛 pose any threat to the environment.

Ige said: 鈥淭he Monitoring Station (NGSA-5) at Katampe has been capturing several significant ground motions with high moment magnitudes (Mw) in the past five days, beginning from September 13, 2024 till date.

鈥淥nly 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.鈥�

The Director-General of NGSA explained that over 20 events were recorded on Septemer 16, 2024.

According to him, the intensity and frequency of the tremor appear to increase from the 13th to 16th September. There are a few weak events recorded today, 17th September.

He stated: 鈥淧reliminary analysis of the waveforms showed that the sources of the ground motions are less than 5 km away from the monitoring station.

NGSA team also visited the affected areas for on-the-spot assessments of the events. 鈥淔rom 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:

鈥淭he 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.鈥�

The Director-General of NGSA also noted that there are multiple epicenters associated with the recent tremor.

Most of the epicenters are located northeast of the NGSA-5 Seismic Station around Mpape axis, while a few are located southwest of the Station around 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.

He, therefore, urged the residents of Mpape, Katampe, Maitama, and other areas in the FCT, where the tremors were felt to not panic as the tremors could be generally described as low.

鈥淭he Agency is keeping a close monitoring of the situation and will provide updates as may become necessary.

鈥淭he 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,鈥� Prof. Ige.

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