The Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) has dismissed fears by residents of the Mpape and Katampe environs of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) over earth tremors.
The Director-General, NGSA, Olusegun Ige, in a statement on Wednesday, said the agency investigation showed that over 48 tremors were recorded, however found to be low and non-threatening to humans and properties at large.
The seismic tremors often small earthquakes or vibrations in the earth’s surfaces, were reported by residents in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter over the weekend.
However, the NGSA said its monitoring station (NGSA-5) at Katampe between Friday, September 13 to Tuesday, September 16 recorded over 48 tremor occurrences of which its waveforms showed that the sources of the ground motions are less than 5 km away from the monitoring station.
The geological body said that the intensity and frequency of the tremors increased from 13 to 16 September with multiple epicentres identified around the Mpape and Katampe axes.
A statement by the agency said, “The 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 13 September 2024 till date.
“Only one mild event was recorded on 13 September. 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 the 13th to the 16th of September. There are a few weak events recorded (on the) 17th of September”.
Relaying factors responsible for the consistent four days occurrence, NGSA said “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”.
The statement added “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 said it is keeping a close monitoring of the situation and will provide updates as may become necessary, adding that the general public should be aware that the NGSA seismic stations are being monitored in real-time to ensure prompt alert
s on any major event.
