Structural Geologist and Metallogenist, Dr. Prince Ofori Amponsah has called for adequate education on the response actions to earth tremors in Ghana.
The call was a response to the recent earth tremors that were reported to have occurred in some parts of Accra, which includes places such as Pokuase, Adenta, Weija and central parts of Accra. The tremors, which occurred on 12th November around 7:20 am, were measured on the Richter Scale, where it reached a magnitude of 3.6.
Speaking on Campus Exclusive, Dr. Amponsah believed that Ghanaians are sitting on a time bomb and should be educated to stay prepared in ahead of such incidents.
“Preparedness becomes key to what we are doing in as much as it is natural, education has to be key. We have not put in much force in actually educating people on what to do in case of earthquakes. That is why we lack as a country.”
“Now that we are having the frequency of these earth tremors coming in, what we determine as a full shock earthquake is funny; before it comes as a big earthquake, it will start giving you indicators and you will see that the frequency of our earth tremor has increased in…that means that we are sitting on a time bomb and it’s going to happen but the sad part is that we can’t predict it and our scientific knowledge has not gotten to that part were we can predict earthquakes.”
Geologist at the department of earth science University of Ghana, Dr. Samuel Nunoo also mentioned that there is an initiative between the department of Earth Science and Copanike of Japan to educate people on how to respond to the onset of an earthquake.
“There is an initiative between the Department of Earth Science and the Copa Nike of Japan. What we try to do is have a lot of simulations on how to escape we there is an earthquake. For now, the target is senior high schools and junior high schools; we go there and try to educate them on what to do when there is an earthquake.”
This earth tremor is happening for the second time this year; the first one occurred on March 10, also in some parts of Accra. It had a magnitude of 2.8.
Earth tremors were also recorded late last year on December 12, with three tremors occurring consecutively in five hours.
The Ghana Geological Survey Authority also released a response to the tremor, where it also announced that education on earth tremors response would be undertaken for the public’s awareness.
“Education and sensitization of the public on awareness and response during earth tremors is important and currently being undertaken by the Authority. The public is urged to remain calm and go about their normal activities.”
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Story by: Doku Basira | univers.ug.edu.gh
