Ghana Engineering Council proposes seismic resistance policy to guide earthquake preparedness  

The Engineering Council, Ghana has called a seismic resistance policy to guide the country’s preparedness against earthquakes. 

The Council said Ghana’s seismic risk is high and that the repeated earth tremors experienced in recent years could be a sign that a bigger earthquake was imminent. 

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on behalf of the Council, Nii Kwashie Allotey, a civil engineer, said the development should be treated as a national issue and called for a multifaceted approach to enhance preparedness against any disaster. 

He warned that a bigger earthquake “can send our economy back to decades” if urgent action was not taken to help reduce the level of impact in the event of disaster. 

“These things are letting us know that we have a seismic risk. so everybody must do their part. 

“If we continue to design our buildings without consulting professional engineers, we are compounding the problem.” Nii Allotey said. 

“One of the mantras in earthquake engineering is that earthquakes don’t kill, it is poorly designed buildings that kill,” he added. 

A 3.6 magnitude earth tremor hit some parts of the Greater Accra Region on Sunday, November 12, 2023, at about0720hours, the Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA) has confirmed. 

It was slightly felt in Nyanyano Kakraba, Weija, Pokuase, Awoshie, Gbawe, Adenta, Kanda,and some other parts of Accra central. 

An earth tremor is a relatively small or short-lived movement of the earth’s surface caused by the same forces that produce earthquakes. 

On Friday, March 11, this year, a similar event occurred in the national capital. 

The tremor of 2.8 magnitude on the Richter Scale hit Jamestown, High Street, Ridge and its environs at 0900 hours. 

Also, on Monday, December 12, 2022, three earth tremor incidents occurred in parts of Accra at 1149 hours with a magnitude of 2.1, with the main event occurring at 11:53am with a magnitude of 3.5, while the aftershock occurred at 11:58am with a magnitude of 1.8 on the Richter scale. 

Nii Allotey told the GNA that the succession of the earth tremors was an indication that the country must take steps to protect itself. 

He called for the training of engineers to design buildings against earthquakes and urged the public to engage professionals in the design and construction of their buildings. 

“If we are getting alarmed, we are getting alarmed to take action. You cannot stop it from happening so what we need to do is to take steps to protect ourselves. 

“We must ensure that our buildings are designed well so that they can withstand some level of earthquake effect.” Nii Allotey said. 

Source: GNA 

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