The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and the Nigeria Geological Survey Agency, NGSA, have both confirmed the occurrence of another earth tremor which happened at the Maitama district of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
This was contained in a statement signed by Mr Vincent Owan, Director, Planning, Research and Forecasting NEMA and Mr Abdulrazak Garba of the NGSA and made available to news men in Abuja, today.
It would be recalled that the recent incidence of earth tremor was reoccurring just a few months after an earth tremor shook the Mpape axis and environs in the FCT in September.
According to the statement, the NGSA said that it received a call at about 12.45 p.m from a location in Maitama reporting the incident after which a technical team was immediately dispatched to the location to confirm.
It stated that a team was sent to the location of the call for an on spot assessment and an internal response protocol was immediately activated, informing relevant government agencies and stakeholders.
“Our preliminary findings indicated that the tremor occurred at about 12.26 hrs around the vicinity of Panama Street in Maitama district, Abuja.
“After the field evaluation, the NGSA determined that the intensity was about 3.0 on the Mercalli Intensity Scale.“That means it was just felt indoors and lasted less than one minute.
“Further inspection revealed that there was no structural damage due to the vibrations and hence, NEMA was adequately briefed by the NGSA.
“The residents were consequently assured that there was no cause for alarm,’’ it stated.
According to Owan, the NGSA technical teams are conducting further assessments and will continue to update the public on further development.
Visiting the scene of the incidence, residents expressed worry over the reoccurrence of the earth tremor in the FCT, saying that they no longer feel safe.
A resident on Panama street, Hajiya, Lami Abubakar, said that it was important for adequate assessment to be done around the axis that have been experiencing the earth tremor, adding that this would help identify the causes, to know if it was natural or due to manmade activities for possible solutions or safe practices that should be adhered to by residents.
She said that the reoccurrence was too soon and she was yet to recover from the shock which has also affected her three-year-old baby and called on relevant agencies to prioritise the incident.
