Parts of Accra on Sunday morning experienced an earth tremor of unknown magnitude.
The affected areas include Weija, SCC, Mandela and their adjoining areas.
The tremor struck at about 3:45a.m. Some residents of SCC, near Weija, told Starrfmonline.com that although the tremor was “minor”, the vibration had put fear in them since they were not sure if it would recur or if it’s a precursor to an earthquake.
This is not the first earth tremor to hit that part of Accra. In early July last year, a momentary tremor – which lasted for a few seconds – in some hilly parts of Ghana’s national capital, sparked pandemonium among residents in the night.
The tremor, according to some panicky Residents who made distress calls to StarrFMonline.com, was felt in areas like McCarthy Hill and Bortianor, as well as low-lying environs such as Kasoa, Weija, Donkunaa and Mandela.
It got people rushing out of their homes into the open, fearing they may be crushed to death by rubble of collapsing buildings, should the tremor trigger a quake.
StarrFMonline.com’s Kobina Welsing, who stays at Mandela, and who also experienced the tremor, said it happened between 8 and 9pm.
Another Resident within the earthquake-prone zone, which stretches several kilometres between Kasoa in the Central region and McCarthy Hill, in Greater Accra, said on social media that: “There was a serious earthquake [last night]…jeeeezzz! I’m scared to hell.”
Despite the short-lived foreshock, Residents in the affected areas feared going back into their homes for a night’s sleep. Some of them loitered in the open for a while, until they mustered enough courage to enter their rooms again.
These recent tremors have precedents in history. They are not the first tremors to have quivered through the earthquake zone in the West African country, which has its capital sitting on a fault line.
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 of the metropolis 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.
The worst tremor experienced in Ghana was in 1936, at Axim in the Western region. It caused a lot of damage.
