Prof. Moshood Tijani, the Head of the Department of Geology, University of Ibadan, on Friday shed more light on the earth movement scare in Saki West Local Government Area of Oyo State, urging residents of the area not to panic over the incident.
Tijani, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria in Ibadan on the incident, which sent many residents fleeing their homes on Wednesday, said what happened was not an earth tremor but a “rumbling” within the fractured zone.
He said: “It is not really an earth tremor because my investigations in the area did not show any physical effects of the incident.
“If there were direct witnesses to tell us if there were some cracks on walls, we can then say maybe it was really a tremor.
“This time, we are worried because of the consistency in Saki.
“I don’t see an earth tremor that will be consistent like that.
“Tremor comes like an aftershock of an earth quake.”
The expert said the incident could be an effect of some activities within the mid-ocean in the Atlantic and transmitting some forces.
Tijani said he had facilitated a team from the University of Ibadan and the Nigeria Geological Survey to study the area when the first incident occurred in the area.
“The Nigerian government also set up a team from Abuja, led by Prof. Adepelumi of the Obafemi Awolowo University, to investigate the incident,” he said.
Tijani, however, urged residents of the area to be calm while remaining alert on happenings in their environment.
He said: “The bottom line is that we cannot just say don’t panic, especially in the era of Boko Haram when people must be conversant with their surroundings.”
He said government needed to do more in terms of preventive measures.
The don called on government to be proactive and not wait until there was an untoward incident before putting in place its own measures.
Tijani urged the Federal Government to put in place a seismographic station in the area to monitor earth movement.
Tijani also said the country needed international collaboration to assess earth movements within the Atlantic zone.
NAN.
