Abuja Earth tremors won’t lead to earthquake – Expert

The National President of the Association of Hydrologists, Ehidiamhen Charles, on Tuesday, said the two recent earth tremors in Abuja could not lead to earthquake.

Mr Charles stated this Minna, Niger State while speaking with journalists.

“The minor incidents should not cause panic among the residents of the Federal Capital Territory.

“These incidents are minor, they cannot cause any concern; there should be no cause for alarm.”

Mr Charles described incidents as ‘‘mere earth movements”, which he said “are normal”, asserting that the tremors could not cause damages to individuals and the community.

‘‘Tremor is a regular phenomenon, Nigeria is stable, we are not an earthquake zone; the nearest we have here is volcano, even the volcano is dormant.”

He attributed the incidents to human activities saying, ‘‘so many construction works are going on in Abuja.

‘‘So many mining activities are going on; if I use dynamite, the blasting can only cause accentuation, the tremors are not destructive.”

The national president said there was no adequate consultation with the association before raising the alarm.

“Nigerians should not be made to panic, government should not be made to spend money unnecessarily,” he advised.

He recalled that there had been similar incidents in Kaduna, Paiko in Niger State and Ijebu Ode in Ogun State in recent past, adding that since then nothing had happened in these areas.

(NAN)