Senate charges government on pre-emptive measures against tremor

The Senate has urged the governments at all levels and relevant agencies to prepare anticipatory programmes for earth tremor.

Adopting the three prayers of Senator Danjuma La’ah (APC, Kaduna South) in the motion titled “Earth Tremor and the Preparedness of Nigeria to Deal with its Intending Consequences,” the Senate urged government at all levels to take the earth tremor warnings in parts of the country seriously and begin to take pre-emptive measures to educate the populace on what to expect and how to react when it occurs.

It also urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the security agencies to move in immediately and through public enlightenment and drills prepare the people against any eventuality, as the resources required at this stage will be minimal.

The lawmakers mandated the Committee on Environment and Solid Minerals to undertake a tour of the affected communities and report back to the Senate.

La’ah explained that earth tremor is a quivering or vibration caused by slippage of the earth’s crust at a fault, especially before or after a major earthquake. There has not been any major earthquake in Nigeria yet, but the reports of earth tremors in parts of the country recently were sign enough that Nigeria is not immune to that natural disaster.

The lawmaker stated that he was saddened that the tremor had left in its trail a traumatic experience to Kwoi people and its environs.

He added that the tremor had also damaged public and private buildings, making them dangerous for habitation.

He recalled that the first reported tremor in Nigeria was in 1933. Other tremors were reported in 1939, 1964, 1984, 1990, 1994, 1997, 2000 and 2006.

Following the one that occurred on September 11, 2009, which affected western parts of the country, and this year in Oyo, Bayelsa and Kaduna States, La’ah noted that researchers have said that the incident was a sign that Nigeria was no longer safe as far as earthquake is concerned.

According to him, the Lagos-Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode fault system was another belt where an earth tremor was witnessed in July and August 1984, stressing that these fault systems could serve as a zone of weakness for the propagation of shocks from far away plate boundaries.

He expressed fear that earthquakes can happen any time in Nigeria now, as they happen at places called faults where jagged edges of two tectonic plates grind against each other and as the tectonic plates move in slow motion, sometimes two grinding plates suddenly jolt into a new position and the energy released by this movement creates an earthquake.