Seismic Activity in Nigeria.

Edward O. Osagie, Ph.D.

Savannah State University, Savannah, Georgia, U.S.A.
9400 Abercorn Ext # 301, Savannah, GA 31406

ABSTRACT
This paper presents an account of the earthquake
activities in Nigeria. It includes a discussion of the
possible origin and mechanism of the
earthquakes. These developments in the nations
geological history bring to question the age long
belief that Nigeria is seismically safe. It is difficult
to overlook the incidence of earth tremors in the
country because recurring tremors could be a
build-up to a major earthquake.
(Keywords: earthquake, tremors, geological history,
seismic activity)

INTRODUCTION
This paper presents a discussion of the
earthquake activities in Nigeria (Figure 1). This
information is non-instrumental. It includes a
discussion of the possible origin and mechanism
of the earthquakes. These developments in the
nations geological history bring to question the
age long belief that Nigeria is seismically safe. It
is difficult to overlook the incidence of earth
tremors in the country because recurring tremors
could be a build-up to a major earthquake.

generally inadequate to explain all known

observations, so that other as yet unknown
sources may also be active.

RECENT SEISMIC ACTIVITIES

On June 27, 1990, an earth tremor occurred in
Ibadan, West Africas largest city, in Oyo State
(Figure 1 ). The nation lacks seismic equipment to
measure tremors or to monitor movement in the
Earths crust. An unscientific method of
measuring the intensity of the quake is to have
the testimony of eye- (or sense-) witnesses who
were at or near the area of greatest intensity. For
it is they who can describe the effects on the
infrastructure. In comparing numerous accounts
from witnesses of the same events, one can
notice that there is a general agreement on major
and minor details of the earthquake. Buildings
vibrated to their foundation, braking louver blades
of windows and stopping clocks. When whole
buildings go into sudden violent vibrations,
washing basins and plates tumbled, spilling their
contents. The tremor sent people into the streets,
though no one was killed.

Earthquakes result from stresses which

accumulate within the outer 700 km shell of the
earth. The origin of these stresses are still
obscure, both as to the source of energy and as
to the mechanism by which this energy is
converted to strain energy. The energy source is
generally assumed to be of thermal origin
(radioactivity, cooling, etc.), although other
sources such as gravitational forces may also be
active. The mechanisms which have been
suggested for transferring thermal energy into
mechanical energy or elastic strain are
convection currents, change of phase or state,
diffusion processes, expansion, or contraction.
Gravitational
return
to
equilibrium
from
disturbance produced in the past may also play a
role. However, these mechanisms appear to be
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Figure 1: Map of Nigeria. Areas with Seismic

Activity are Shaded.

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Volume 9. Number 2. November 2008 (Fall)

Residents of Oluyole Estate Extensions, Apata,

Odoowa and Felele, an area covering about 16
kilometers radius, experienced the highest
vibration. If the quake had lasted more than 10
seconds, it could have resulted in the collapse of
some houses. In fact, in a country where
buildings are as collapsible as bubbles, repeated
tremors could have a devastating effect. While
some people impute supernatural cause to these
quakes, others regard them as some sort of
penance imposed for group sins. The effect of
this tremor would suggest a micro-quake of
magnitude m 3-4.

volcanic eruptions, were noticed in September

1988 in Osererun hills in Gombe council area of
Gongola State threatening about 10,000
inhabitants. Two hectares of farm land and many
animals were lost. In April 1988, panic gripped the
inhabitants of Amauzu Ede-Obela in Edema
council area of Anambra State where about 12
km of land had cracked. Houses built with zinc
also had cracks. There are reports of annual
tremors in some areas of Rivers State, especially
during the month of April. These incidents have
aggravated the fear of a possible earthquake
across the nation.

An earthquake was first reported in Ibadan in

1949. On July 28, 1984, another tremor occurred
in Ibadan but many people did not take it
seriously. Some people though it was thunder or
the sound of a heavy vehicle passing near their
residence. Unlike the 1990 event, the tremor left
no casualties or significant damage to property.
However, five days after the 1984 tremor, in
Ibadan, Ijebu-Ode and Abeokuta, (Figure 1 ), two
main settlements 68 km to the southeast and 77
km to the southwest, respectively, were hit by a
more ferocious tremor that left cracks in buildings.
The tremor which lasted for only two seconds
affected Sobo, Porogun, Oliworo quarters, the
Ondo-Benin road, and neighboring villages. Thus
the Ijebu-Ode tremor spread very far.

The relative movement of plates give rise to

earthquakes. The slip on the fault generates the
earthquakes, according to plate tectonics.
However, it is widely held that the African plate
has not moved in the past 200 years.
Stratigraphic evidence and K/Ar dates from widely
separately areas on the African plate indicates a
roughly simultaneous upsurge in volcanic activity
about 25 m.y. ago (Burke and Wilson, 1972). If
this volcanism was generated over plumes and
the African plate has moved laterally over them
during the past 25 m.y., then the volcanoes
should form parallel lines across Africa. If the
motion averaged 1 cm/yr, the lines of volcanoes
would be 250 km long and all would become
younger in the same direction. Although African
Neogene volcanoes are commonly arranged in
lines the lines are not parallel and there is no
evidence of consistent age variations from one
end to another. This pattern of volcanism is
consistent with the hypothesis that the African
plate halted and has been virtually at rest for the
past 25 m.y. with each Neogene volcanic area
overlying a different plume (Burke and Wilson,
1972).

The local geology of the region around Ibadan,

which is the main area of interest, is underlain by
rocks belonging to the migmatite-gnesissquatrzite complex which constitutes the essential
part of the Precambrian basement complex of
Nigeria.
The
migmatite-gneissess
are
heterogeneous rock made up of several distinct
petrologic units (Rahaman and Ocan, 1978;
Rahaman, Olarewaju, Ocan and Oshin, 1983).
The two main petrologic units in the area are grey
gneiss and the granite gneiss. The granite gneiss
which forms the hills in addition to a few level
outcrops is intrusive into the grey gneiss. All the
rocks have undergone strong deformation and as
a result show microfolds, and microfaults and
linear fabrics.
The first earth tremors in Nigeria were in Warri
(Delta part of Nigeria ) in 1923. It also occurred in
Ohafia (eastern part of Nigeria) in 1933. On
December 8, 1984, a tremor was reported in
Yola, Gongola State (Figure 1). In April 1990,
there were reports of strange shaking of the earth
in Jere town, Kaduna State (Figure 1). Some
cracks, suspected to have been caused by
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The affected areas do not lie on any plate

boundaries. What then could be the possible
origin of these earth tremors in these areas? We
want to attempt plausible causes for these earth
tremors. One thing is certain, that is, the earth
tremors that have occurred in Nigeria have
occurred in the same area. Thus, these
earthquakes do not occur randomly either in time
or in space on the surface of the earth. There are
distinct earthquake belts in Nigeria. Then there
must be some interesting features in these
particular areas. Certainly, the earthquakes in the
different parts of Nigeria can not be ascribed to
the same cause. The seismically active zones are
(Figure 1).

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Volume 9. Number 2. November 2008 (Fall)

1) South-west zone stretching from the Ijebu

areas to the Ibadan areas.
2) The Cross Rivers Basin,
3) Gongola Trough,
4) Benue Valley.
In the southern part of the country such as Warri
and Rivers State (Figure 1), the earthquakes may
be due to sediments. In areas where the earth is
overloaded, the plate is upset. This could
precipitate earth movement because the
application of stress to a rock mass having a
structural weakness produces a fracture. Once a
fracture has occurred, movements will continue
on it. However, sedimentation alone is generally
inadequate to induce earthquakes. This is
because the large sediment loads have generally
been in place long enough that the stress had
relaxed.
Warri and Rivers State are in the Niger Delta. The
Niger Delta is underlain by an RRR (RidgeRidge-Ridge) triple junction (Burke et al., 1971)
and lies on an oceanic crust (Hospers, 1971).
Reyment (1969) published a map showing an
estimate of the former position of the edge of the
South American continent under the Niger Delta
based on the distribution of marine Upper
Cretaceous rocks. The northern limit of growth
faults (Short and Stauble, 1967; Merki, 1970) in
the Niger Delta roughly coincides with the same
line, that is, the Cretaceous margin of South
America and this seems consistent with the
general observation that the deltas are pushing
into waters of oceanic depths and which have
been suggested to represent the results of a
short-lived subduction episode (Burke et al.,
1971) which could trigger earth tremors in these
areas.
Cities such as Warri and Rivers State which are
located
on
water-logged
unconsolidated
sediments, that is, loose gravel, sand, dirt, and
clay and near major faults are more vulnerable to
earthquake damage than those that are not.
Unconsolidated sediments are at much greater
risk for seismic shaking than rock.
Some areas of the country are sinking because of
the rate at which the nations underground water
resources are being tapped. Thousands of
boreholes in Lagos State, for example, are from a
single source, the Abeokuta rocks in Ogun State.
An earth tremor occurred in Abeokuta in 1986.
The water collects underground and literally floats
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the whole city. Groundwater behavior is now

acknowledged to be an important factor in
earthquake prediction especially since Nur
proposed a dilatancy-diffusion hypothesis of
precursor behavior (Nur, 1972). Many reports
concerning groundwater behavior accompanying
earthquakes have been recorded (Shimamura,
1980;
Shimamura
and
Watenbe,
1981;
Shimamura et al., 1985; Wakita, 1981). However,
much remains unknown about the role of
groundwater in earthquake generation.
Gravity and structural geology of the Benue valley
indicate a combined effect of a zone of intrusion,
a thin crust and possibly a shallow basement
(Ajakaiye and Burke, 1972). This conclusion is
consistent with the hypothesis that a spreading
ridge underlay the southwestern part of the
Benue trough in part of Cretaceous times with
closure of the embryo Benue ocean at the time of
a major Santonian folding episode (Burke et al.,
1971). On this hypothesis the thick sedimentary
sequences mark the suture along which
continental crust has rejoined after the short-lived
spreading episode. Rex, et al. (1971), have
suggested that the Neogene volcanism of the
87
86
Benue trough with its low Sr/ Sr ratios may
have been localized along this suture. This
localized volcanism may be responsible for the
seismic activities in the Benue Valley.
The reactivation of pre-existing faults or weak
zones has been observed in the ocean and inland
(Wetmilla and Forsyth, 1978) and this process is
proposed for the Ibadan area. This intra-plate
area constitutes a localized weakness zone in the
crust. The cause of this weakness is unknown. It
is possible that the stressed rock becomes
weakened by water corrosion and the pushing
apart of the forces of the fault by abnormally high
pressures. There is the possibility regarding the
concentration of strain in relatively narrow strain
zones along the faults. Thus, the major portions
of the blocks between faults are relatively
unstrained and so act principally as stress
transmitting members of narrow strain zones at
their margins, where the strain is accumulated for
intermittent release in earthquakes. However, we
do not know the nature of the forces which
produce the stresses. Perhaps, the forces
originate from within the whole block masses as
body forces and are applied horizontally from
outside the affected region, or are generated by
coupling to many structures below. We do not
know the depth to which the faults and their strain
zones extend.

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Volume 9. Number 2. November 2008 (Fall)

Kennedy (1965) recognized that Cretaceous and

Tertiary marine sediments were confined to the
reactivated areas in the Pan African orogency
around the West African craton. Burke and
Dewey (1971) and Dewey and Burke (1973) in
attempting to apply unformitarian principles to the
Pan African events, emphasized that these
terraces resembled, in their vast areal extent, the
kind of orogenic environment presently resulting
from continental collision in the Himalaya and
Tibet. They suggested, therefore, that Pan African
reactivation might have resulted from continental
collision

DISCUSSION
The Atlantic-type continental margin of Nigeria
was generally regarded as aseismic until these
tremors. This suggests that the crust in the west
African portion of the African plate may not be
stable. Before the acceptance of plate
displacement, it seemed appropriate to relate
surface structures directly to those of the
underlying asthenosphere but this is no longer
realistic unless a plate can be shown to be
temporarily at rest.
The basin and swell structure which are peculiar
to Africa are linked to the rift valley formation
(Krenkel, 1957). Burke and Whiteman (1970)
have postulated a genetic sequence, discernible
in Africa, from uplift, through rifting and triple
junction formation to continental separation. They
suggested that these peculiarities of Neogene
African structure (in no other continent are they
so prominent) may be a consequence of the
standstill of the African plate over asthenosphere.
The Nigerian continental shelf lies between
0
0
longitude 30 west and 80. 40 east and latitude
0
0
60.20 N and 40.20 N. It evolved about 180
million years ago when Africa began to separate
from south America (Junner, 1941). The mantle in
the ridges is jutting to the surface, thereby
causing fractures along the ridge. Some of these
fractures have been found to cut into the African
continent, although the precise location in West
Africa has not been determined. Rock movement
along the fractures are rampant and so builds up
tension and force which at a point snaps or yields
to cause vibration to the landmass in what is
experienced as tremors. However, no evident
oceanic fracture seems to be related to this
epicentral region. The shelf does not extend that
far from the coast.
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As further evidence that the west African nation is

unstable, earthquakes were reported in Accra,
Ghana, west of Nigeria. Several seismic events
have occurred in Accra extending along the
Akwapin faults to the Volta River (Burke, 1969).
Ghana does not belong to any of the known
mobile zones, rather it belongs to a stable area,
the craton. However, the history of earthquakes in
Ghana suggest that everything is but quiet. In the
past 120 years, Accra has on three occasions
been damaged by major earthquakes in 1906,
1939, and 1941 (Junner, 1941). Continued microseismic activity to date indicates that earthquake
activity is far from over. The seismicity which
occurred on the Volta river in 1971 was attributed
to the Chain fracture zone which reaches Africa at
Accra (Burke, 1971). Bouguer anomalies
(Rechenmann et al., 1960 ) in the Accra area
indicate a change in crustal structure within the
continent across the eastern boundary of the
West African craton. This change which resulted
from the development of the Dahomy suture in an
early Palaeozoic paratectonic orogeny, localized
the Cretaceous transform that split Gondwana
continent and became the Chain fracture zone
(Burke and Dewey, 1971). Differential lateral
motion across the Chain fracture zone at the
continental margin is unlikely because the coast
of Africa lies beyond the mid-Atlantic ridge offset.
The seismicity of the Volta Dam is more probably
related to an abrupt change from crust of
continental thickness to crust of oceanic thickness
at the edge of the Ghana continental shelf (Burke,
1971). This does not seem to be a plausible
explanation for the occurrence of the earthquakes
in Ghana. The correspondence between the
offset of the continental margin and the midAtlantic ridge on the Chain fracture zone is further
evidence that Africa and the south Atlantic east of
the mid-Atlantic ridge may be considered as part
of the same rigid block (Burke, 1969). The
occurrence, however, of seismicity near Accra
with recently active faults indicates some
comparatively differential motion across the
fracture zone.
On December 22, 1983, a large earthquake
occurred in Guinea further west of Nigeria in an
area which was previously considered aseismic
(USGS location 11.93 S and 13.60 W). The
magnitude of the Guinean earthquake was M =
8.2 and was followed by about 1,000 aftershocks.
The main shock was felt over an area of about 15
km. Several lives and property were lost on that
occasion. The epicenter of the earthquake was

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located in a region bordering the West African

craton at the southern end of the Mauritanides
fold belt and at the edge of the Bowe basin
characterized by non-metamorphic sedimentary
layers (Dorbarth et al., 1983). Earthquakes have
been reported in Guinea during the century
mainly in the area and to the north of Cape Verde
Islands.
Further east, Seiberg (1932) reported five
earthquakes from Cameroon of which two were
associated with the Cameroon mountain volcano
and two including the largest had epicenters at
0
0
Kribi (10 E, 4 N), 200 km to the south. Many
volcanic eruptions have been observed in recent
times in the Cameroons which is adjacent to the
northeastern and southeastern parts of Nigeria
such as Gongola State. On August 21, 1986, the
lake Nyos erupted. Cattle were killed and the flow
of gas down the river caused 1,700 deaths
among the local population. Lake Nyos volcano
has been very active in the past. Similar gas
explosions had taken place in 1954, 1982, and
1984. The outburst may be associated with a
phenomenon in which the lake turns over under
the influence of a minor external stimulus such as
a storm or earthquakes.
The Cameroon volcanic zone which developed in
the Neogene times is characterized by alkaline,
mainly basaltic volcanics, is more than 1,100 km
long, half on land and half in the ocean and is a
major structural feature of the Gulf of Guinea, but
the fracture zones because they seem to have
controlled the distribution of Cretaceous and
Tertiary sedimentary basins may be more
fundamental (Burke, 1969). The Cameroon line
cuts across a sedimentary basin and although
there is a continuous history of Cenozoic
magmatic activity in Cameroon, the volcanoes
which make up the line are very young. The
Cameroon structures appear to be tensional
features related to the contact of oceanic
fractures with the continent.

question is the relationship of small to large

earthquakes. Can observations of microearthquakes (defined as those of magnitude less
than 4) give information about large destructive
earthquakes (of magnitude 7 or 8)? Small
earthquakes are now monitored in several parts
of the world. Unfortunately, neither fixed or
temporary seismic arrays have been installed in
Nigeria to monitor these micro-earthquakes. It is
therefore extremely necessary to deploy seismic
instruments in order to catalogue epicenters and
magnitudes of these micro-earthquakes in
Nigeria. Such masses of data need to be
collected and painstakingly analyzed before a
thorough understanding of the tectonics of these
regions could be made.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to the many individuals who willingly
provided information during this investigation.
This work was carried out when the author was at
the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria and
he is grateful to the University for funding the
study. I thank Prof. C.A. Kogbe for his detailed
review, corrections, and thoughtful constructive
comments on the manuscript and in particular, for
drawing my attention to previous works. The
paper is significantly improved because of him.
Thanks are due to Prof. Kelvin Burke for his
support and assistance in making his papers
available to me.

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CONCLUSION
Cenozoic volcanism may be ascribed as the
triggering mechanism for the earthquakes in
certain parts of Nigeria such as the Benue Valley,
although this process is not well understood.
Similarly, it is uncertain as to the cause of the
earthquakes in other parts of the country. In any
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frequent than larger events. A fundamental
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Edward O. Osagie currently serves as an
Assistant Professor of Physics at Savannah State
University. He had been teaching at the
University of Benin in Nigeria. Dr. Osagie earned
his bachelors from the University of Lagos in
Nigeria, masters degrees from the University of
Lagos and Princeton University, and his doctorate
from St. Louis University.

SUGGESTED CITATION
Osagie, E.O. 2008. Seismic Activity in Nigeria.
Pacific Journal of Science and Technology.
9(2):546-551.

Pacific Journal of Science and Technology

19. Rex, D.C., Grant, N.K., and Freeth, S.J. 1971. K/

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in the Benue Trough. Conf. Afr. Geol. 6th
Leicester. Abstr.

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