Mr Isaac Kuuwan Mwinbelle, the Acting Director General of the Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA), says the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria are signals of a possible earthquake occurrence in Ghana.
He, however, urged the public not to panic but be vigilant, avoiding siting buildings at earthquake prone zones and adhere to safety standards.
He explained that once the country had experienced earthquakes in the past and other related activities as recent as last January, it was a signal to prepare adequately to reduce its impacts.
Mr Mwinbelle, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said the Authority had Seismic stations dotted across the country that monitored the earth’s movement and detected possible earthquake events.
“However, this is seen at a short time frame prior to the event so it does not afford us the opportunity to provide early warning signals for preparations to be made towards it,” he said.
He expressed concern over the continuous construction of buildings at areas demarcated as prone to earthquakes, including Weija through to Aburi.
“These areas are high risk zones and people who have put up buildings there and those about to do same may do so at their own risk. You are putting yourselves in danger. City authorities must stop such persons,” he said.
To ensure safety in the construction sector, he advised the public to consult the GGSA to undertake geological assessment at sites and provide technical advice before putting up buildings.
“There are a number of areas that have faults – fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock and its movement can be slow or rapidly in the form of earthquake. They are dangerous areas and not habitable but people are putting up structures in these areas,” he said.
An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the earth due to the sudden release of energy in the earth’s crust. They are caused by sudden tectonic movements in the earth’s crust. When the tectonic plates slide over one another, there is a cause of orogeny, which results in earthquakes.
These disturbances cause vibrations that spread in all directions.
Ghana first recorded its earthquake at a magnitude of 6.5 in the year 1862, in which three people died.
In 1906, the country experienced an earth tremor, which hit parts of the Volta Region but no record of damage.
It was followed by the 1939 event at a magnitude of 6.6, killing 17 persons, leaving 133 others with different degrees of injury.
There was one in January 1997 at a magnitude of 3.8, another 4.1 magnitude in February, and 4.8 magnitude in March, the same year.
In 2003, 2006, 2007 the country recorded earthquakes of magnitude 3.8, magnitude 3.7, and 5.2, respectively.
From 2018 to 2023, Ghana has witnessed series of earth tremors on a yearly basis.
Professor Mrs Paulina Amponsah of the School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, explained that to mean an energy build up within the earth, which could cause a major earthquake anytime in the future, although Ghana was not in an active earthquake zone.
She urged the Government to give attention to seismic technology by allocating resources for research in that field.
