Abuja tremor poses no threat, says NGSA

Residents of Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory can rest assured after the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) confirmed that a recent earth tremor has completely subsided. The agency's Director-General, Prof. Olusegun Ige, stated that there is no evidence of an ongoing seismic threat, aiming to allay public fears.

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Our message to residents of Abuja is clear: there is no cause for alarm. The tremor was a very low-energy, isolated event, and our monitoring has confirmed that the seismic activity has completely subsided. Nigeria is not prone to earthquakes.

The tremor, recorded on August 4 at 11:23 a.m., lasted approximately five seconds and originated from a shallow depth of less than one kilometer. Ige characterized it as a "low-energy, transient micro-event" with low amplitude and very short duration. "Our message to residents of Abuja is clear: there is no cause for alarm," he said, emphasizing that Nigeria is not prone to earthquakes.

Following the incident, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, directed the NGSA to provide hourly updates. The agency conducted continuous monitoring for over five days, finding only baseline seismic noise. Physical inspections at reported locations, including government facilities and central business district buildings, revealed no structural damage, injuries, or significant discomfort attributable to the tremor.

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The fact that a tremor was felt does not mean that a destructive earthquake is imminent. What matters is the n

Preliminary geological analysis suggests the tremor may have resulted from the release of accumulated stresses within the earth's crust along existing fault systems. While acknowledging that such geological stresses can occasionally cause localized seismic events in Nigeria, Ige stressed that the August 4 tremor's characteristics did not indicate an imminent destructive earthquake.

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We have combined instrumental monitoring with physical assessment on the ground. The evidence before us shows that there is no ongoing seismic threat and no structural damage arising from this event.