Magnitude 4.1 earthquake strikes near Al Hoceima, Al-Hoceima, Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima, Morocco

A magnitude 4.1 earthquake near Al Hoceima, Al-Hoceima, Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima, Morocco, was reported only 12 minutes ago by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 12 km beneath the epicenter after midnight on Saturday, November 19th, 2022, at 12:32 am local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake which listed the quake at magnitude 4.0. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 4.0, and Spain’s Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN) at magnitude 3.8.

Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Al Hoceima (pop. 395,600) located 27 km from the epicenter, Tirhanimîne (pop. 55,800) 29 km away, Imzouren (pop. 40,000) 31 km away, and Bni Bouayach (pop. 18,300) 35 km away.
Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Midar (pop. 10,200) located 53 km from the epicenter, Nador (pop. 129,300) 74 km away, and Al Aaroui (pop. 36,000) 76 km away.

Environmental destruction affecting longevity-Thoracic society

Prof. Prince Ele, the President, Nigeria Thoracic Society (NTS), says the uncontrolled destruction of the environment impacts negatively and adversely affects longevity of the average Nigerian.
He said this on Friday in Abuja on the sidelines of the society’s Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference with the theme “The Environment and Lung Health”.
Ele said that the lungs have direct access to the environment and though it was all enclosed in the chest, each time one took a breath one was literally breathing in the environment.
He referred to recent air pollution in parts of Rivers state associated with oil bunkering and illegal refining of crude oil as a classic example of how uncontrolled human activities could generate dangerous levels of pollutants.
“The environment is loaded not just from natural activities but from human activities that have generated a lot of pollution in the environment.
“So each time you breathe, depending on where you are, you breathe in gaseous matter and particulate matter, you breathe in viruses, bacterial organisms and parasites and all of these particles are quite toxic.
“Human activity will continue whether we like it or not, environmental pollution will continue and this pollution is found in homes, the workplace, in the industries and even in traffic.
“Wherever you are, there’s some kind of pollution going on and our people are totally ignorant about this and part of our task and main thrusts of this conference is to create awareness,” Ele said.
He, however, said that individuals, companies and governments at all levels had various roles to play to guard against environmental pollution.
For individuals, he said they should avoid cooking with biomass such as firewood and coal, especially in enclosed environments like in the kitchen as this exposed them to polluted air.
“You can switch over from using firewood to using gas for instance.
“Even though we know that indirectly government may still be required because if these things are not affordable, the ordinary man with the knowledge may still not be able to afford it.
“Nonetheless, people need to be aware of this that there is something they can do and then move away from cooking in tight enclosures.
“If where you cook is more open and disperses the smoke and the particulate matter that is generated, it may reduce the amount of particles that you inhale.”
The society’s president also said that non-smokers should avoid being in the company of smokers as secondary smoking or passive smoking could be very harmful to them.
He also said that employers of labour of industries should ensure that they abide by the local and international laws in the workplace by providing the right protective gear for their staff at all times.
“One major challenge that we have in our country is that we have good legislations but enforcement is always an issue for us.
“In the workplace, like in the quarries where you generate a lot of dust from stone crushing and sand blasting, you find a lot of workers who do not have face masks and these things by law should be provided by employers.
“These workers maybe because of incentives in terms of allowances and all of that do not know the immediate and long term implications of that kind of exposure.
“So, in the workplace this law should be enforced. No industry or company should be allowed to expose its employees to environmental pollution without protective measures.”
Ele also urged the government at all levels to ensure that legislations and policies put in place to safeguard citizens’ welfare are enforced.
Prof. Saad Ahmed, the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi, said that the theme of the conference was apt because most diseases were now being modified by environmental factors.
He, however, said that the Federal Government was very concerned about the health sector.
He added that the federal government had done a lot to sustain the sector in spite of the challenges around the globe, particularly those arising from the effects of COVID-19.
Ahmed said that the situation had affected both the economic and social life of the populace.
“What we are faced with currently at the moment is where we have our human resource moving to some other countries.
“This, the government has seen is quite a problem and a lot is being done to see that the effect is being mitigated.
“One, on how we can immediately replace those that have decided to go and secondly the long term plan on retaining our workforce.“
According to Ahmed, though there may not be significant increase in the percentage of budget that goes to health but what has been appropriated to the health sector in 2020 and 2021 has been released 100 per cent.
“There are a lot of competing needs but we cannot say that health is not important. Of course, the government has shown some interest in the health sector.
“That is why we have seen continuous increase in the budget for health sector as well as not only the increase in the budget that we are talking about but equally, the government has prioritised the health sector particularly for the capital budget releases.
“So we expect to see a lot of infrastructural development in the health sector particularly the tertiary health institutions in order to address the needs of the populace,’’ he added.
Ahmed also said that in 2021, there were some interventions that equally came in and changed some aspects of healthcare delivery in some tertiary health institutions in the country.

Make toilets safe, attractive — organisation urges Nigerian government

Dr Jack Sim, Founder, World Toilet Organisation, has called on the Nigerian government to improve access to safe and attractive toilets, that will encourage use and end open defecation practice.

Sim made this call at the opening of the 2022 World Toilet Summit, holding in Abuja, with the theme, “Sanitation Innovations for Economic Development’.

The summit is organized by the Nigerian government, the Organized Private Sector in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (OPS-WASH) and the World Toilet Organisation.

He said the organisation has been working to advocate and break the taboo around toilets by bringing the sanitation crisis to the global media spotlight.

According to Sim, there is need for a global movement involving governments, policy makers, UN agencies, international civil societies, and thought leaders to work together in addressing the sanitation crisis.

While commending the efforts of the Nigerian government in hosting the summit, he however called for renewed collaboration.

Deputy Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, South Africa, Mr David Mahlobo, said Nigeria and South Africa shared a common history of colonialism and apartheid.

According to Mahlobo, the UN has a huge responsibility to put the voice of water and sanitation on the global agenda.

He noted that issues of water and sanitation cannot be left behind in development, saying with population growth many efforts of government had not been felt with the exclusion of many.

“We are all calling for more funds and inclusion of the private sector, we are calling for action, solidarity to raise voices for sanitation as the SDGs approach in 2030.

“The WTO must remain the voice of the voiceless, and reduce their vulnerabilities,’’ Mahlobo said.

Nigeria’s Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, said the summit among others, is focused on improving collaboration among stakeholders around driving accelerated access to sustainable sanitation services.

Adamu said that it was an opportunity to mobilize investment to the sanitation sub-sector, and create an enabling environment for sanitation service delivery through private sector participation.

“The summit also seeks to provide the platform to share, learn and interact with diverse stakeholders on different sanitation sub-themes, and to afford opportunity to exhibit sanitation products and services.

“This is a unique global platform in which stakeholders come together and devise means to address sanitation challenges and find solutions,’’ he said.

The minister said that it was also a token of continuing efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 6.

He stated that by 2030, countries must have achieved access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, and primarily end open defecation.

Adamu said that the summit was expected to bring about an African toilet revolution, that would contribute to accelerating the national campaign in Nigeria with extension across the continent.