Dumsor Hampering Earthquake Monitoring—Minister

Although the Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA) may have identified some areas in the Accra Metropolis as earthquake-prone areas, the authority says several factors, like insistent power cuts, continue to inhibit the proper monitoring of earthquakes.

“Power outage continues to hamper earthquake monitoring in the country,” Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, revealed last Tuesday at a meeting with Journalists.

According to him, it is important to have a constant supply of electricity that will facilitate monitoring of possible earthquake tremors.

Many parts of the capital are currently experiencing erratic power supply. Although the situation has been persistent, authorities keep ruling out the possibility of an energy crisis.

To mitigate this pitfall, and to carry out a 24-hour monitoring of earthquakes in Ghana, Asomah-Cheremeh says Government has approved the installation of Solar Power at the authority’s Seismic Observatory.

“The issue of earthquake occurrence continues to threaten the country. In order to mitigate the impact of Earthquakes in the Southern Sector of the country, Mapping and Risk Assessment in Nyanyano, Weija, McCarthy Hills and surrounding areas were carried out to generate an updated geo-hazard/risk map for planning and decision making,” he noted.

Earthquake In Ghana

Although Ghana may be far away from the major earthquake zones of the world, study shows it is prone to the disaster.

The country has records of damaging earthquakes dating as far back as 1636 with some of the most severe occurring in 1862, 1906 and 1939.

The 1939 tremor seems to have been the most destructive as 17 lives were lost and 133 seriously injured. Its magnitude was 6.5 on the Richter scale.

Tremors were also recorded on the January 8, February 14 and March 6, 1997.

On March 24, 2018, three earth tremors hit parts of Weija, Gbawe, McCarthy Hill, and the Nyanyano enclave.

By: Grace Ablewor Sogbey