Two ministries put on alert after 3.9 magnitude earth tremor rocks parts of Accra
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President Akufo Addo has asked President the National Security and the Ministry of the Interior to be on alert for a possible earthquake parts of the country’s capital, Accra, has experienced yet another earth tremor.
The Director General of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) Eric Nana Agyemang Prempeh, made public the president’s directive to the two agencies in an interview with the Daily Graphic over the weekend.
“I can tell you that the President has shown interest in the recurrence of earth tremors in parts of the national capital and has directed the National Security and the Ministry of the Interior to work on a national earthquake preparedness plan, with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) as the coordinating agency” – the president’s directive, as told by Nana Agyemang Prempeh.
Places including, Weija, Gbawe, McCarthy Hill, all within the Ga South Municipality experienced the tremor last Saturday. The tremor also occured in other areas such as, Sowutuom, Old Kasoa Barrier, New Bortianor, Awoshie, Abelemkpe, Tabora, Achimota, Ablekuma, Kisseiman, Westland, Laterbiokorshie and Legon.
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Senior Official at the Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA), Nicholas Opoku, has describe the tremor as a “moderate earthquake,” saying, the 3.9-magnitude is the highest to have been recorded in 2019 on a Richter scale.
According to the GGSA official, the Survey Authority recorded 2.6 – magnitude on the Richter scale on January 13, 2019 and 2.8 in February 25, 2019 with the third pointing to increasing seismic activity within Accra.
In a separate interview on Joy News, Nicholas Opoku hinted on a possible earthquake in the near future. He said, “As for bigger earthquakes, one day it will come”, indicating that, “as to when is always a problem that semiologist has not been able to unravel”.
In January 2006, a tremor measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale rippled through parts of the capital, according to the Geological Survey Department. It was registered by two of the Department’s monitoring stations at Weija and Kukurantumi. There was a similar tremor – measuring 3.8 on the Richter Scale – in May 2003.
Suburbs of the Capital, such as Dansoman, Weija, Ashalley Botwe, Madina, East Legon, Trade Fair and Sakumono and their adjoining areas all felt the earth movement. In 1997, three tremors shook Accra within three months. The first tremor, experienced on January 8, measured 3.8 on the Richter Scale; the second on February 15, measured 4.1; and the third, on March 6 was 4.8.
Reports indicate that the worst tremor experienced in Ghana was in 1936, at Axim in the Western region which caused a lot of damage.
