Ghana will experience stronger earth tremors soon - Ghana Geological Survey

The Ghana Geological Survey Authority has warned that the country would be experiencing a stronger earth tremor soon.

According to them, what happened last night is sending a strong signal of a much stronger earth tremor.

Speaking on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia programme, Mr Nicholas Opoku, Head, Earthquake Monitoring, Ghana Geological Survey Authority and a Seismologist, explained that they did not foresee last night earth tremor.

"It is also impossible for any agency or institution to determine when an earthquake will strike because there’s no highly sophisticated equipment to determine when an earthquake will strike," he said.

He said three types of tremor occurred yesterday, the first one which was described as the foreshock was 3.7, the mainshock which was 4.2 and the aftershock which was 3.7.

He, however, appealed to people living in areas like Bortianor, Weija, McCarthy, the Aburi Mountains and those living close to the sea to begin to take extra precautionary measures to protect themselves because they are in earthquake-prone areas.

He, however, appealed to the government to provide them with more equipment that will enable them to dispense their duties well.

"We lack equipment, the government has provided some but they are not enough, we need more modern and sophisticated equipment to be able to work effectively," he added.

History of earthquakes in Ghana

Records indicate that the earliest earthquake in Ghana occurred in 1615 with magnitude greater than 6.0 on the Richter Scale.

There are records noting that an earthquake in 1636 caused havoc in several parts of Axim in the Western Region.

The last three major earthquakes occurred in Ghana in 1862, 1906 and 1939.

The 1862 Accra earthquake had a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter Scale and caused three fatalities in addition to the damage to property.

Magnitude 4.6 and 4.9 seismic events also occurred in Accra in 1871 and 1872.

The epicentre of the 1906 earthquake was near Ho collapsing buildings and causing severe damage.

The June 1939 magnitude 6.5 earthquake, which was centred around James Town, was the most destructive in Ghana’s history, causing an estimated $67.3 million damage at the time.

This seismic event lasted about thirty seconds and killed 17 people and injured about 140 persons.