The Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA) has advised the public to stop building along the slopes of hills, as such areas may not be stable for infrastructural development.
The authority has also asked Metropolitan and Municipal District Assemblies (MMDAs) to enforce effective land-use planning to ensure public safety.
This follows the suspected earth tremor event at Twifo-Mampong in the Central Region of Ghana on June 30, 2023.
The Acting Director-General of GGSA, Isaac Mwinbelle, said in a statement signed and issued in Accra on Wednesday that monitoring records on the suspected earth tremor from the authority’s network of seismic stations located across the country did not record any major earth tremor event from the stations on the said date.
“However, minor earth disturbances recorded during the period did not have the potential to cause the impact that was recorded,” he added.
Mr. Mwinbelle said an investigation by a team of seismologists and geoscientists from the GGSA, together with the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Robert Agyemang Nyantakyi, assembly members, and officials from NADMO on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, revealed that the event was a landslide which occurred after a heavy downpour the previous day, June 29, 2023.
“Residents in the area confirmed that no ground shaking was felt by anyone in the town. The landslide event took place on a steep hill within farmlands which are primarily used for cocoa plantations. As a result, several cocoa trees were destroyed,” he added.
The Acting Director-General of the GGSA said the geological materials observed at the site were highly weathered metasediments, which were saturated from the heavy downpour, resulting in the movement of materials in multiple locations along the slopes of the hill.
“The area where the landslide occurred was far away from settlements and thus, did not affect lives and property. However, the event serves as a cautionary tale for potential development along the slopes of the hill to be avoided and the need for proper enforcement of land-use planning,” he added.
Mr. Mwinbelle said farmers in the affected areas could go about their farming activities but should stay away from such areas when there are signs of rainfall events.