GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TO START EDUCATION ON EARTHQUAKES

The Geological Survey Department is to start a nation-wide educational drive on earthquake preparedness and its aftermath , Mr. Charles Oduro, the acting Director has said.

Mr. Oduro told the GNA in Accra that the department has already started the programme with the Ghana Armed Forces since the military are among the first to be called to assist when disaster strikes. He said currently the department is not well equipped to be able to ' even come close to predict future quakes'' ' The data we have on previous earthquakes and tremors do not follow a particular pattern and therefore make it difficult to analyse,'' he added.

He said there has been no significant tremor since the major one on March 6. The acting director noted that ' an earthquake in itself does not kill but its effects on building, electrical installations and dams are dangerous .

'Sometimes, the vibrations in a concert hall may not be as disastrous as when the panic stricken audience attempts to flee the hall. 'If one is standing in an open space nothing actually happens to him except when the earth opens but that is even rare,'' Mr. Oduro added.

Source: Graphic