The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Institute for Security, Disaster and Emergency Studies (ISDES), Dr Ishmael Norman,has said that Ghana as a country would have taken about thirty-five (35) years to recover if the earthquakes which hit Turkey and Syria had hit her.
Speaking on ‘Ebaanosen’, a Plan-B FM current affairs show, Dr. Norman noted that the government of Ghana does not have the necessary equipment to save its citizens should the country experience an earthquake of the same or more than the magnitude which hit Turkey and Syria.
Two major earthquakes – measuring 7.8 and 7.5 on the magnitude scale – flattened buildings of all kinds and killed more than 19,000 people so far and counting across southern Turkey and northern Syria.
Media reports have projected the number of casualties to go upbecause several people are still being unaccounted for in areas when the earthquakes hit on Monday, February 6, 2023.
The ISDES CEO thinks that the situation would have been different the disaster occurred in Ghana and added that country may be handicapped in dealing with the effect of the disasterwhich he described as serious.
He told listeners of the show that the country’s preparedness and capabilities should it experience an earthquake with the situation Turkey and Syria finds themselves in now is very low.
According to him if Ghana experiences an earthquake and there is a collapse like it was witnesses in the case of Turkey and Syria where several high raised buildings collapsed it would have been difficult looking for survivors in the rubble due to the fact that Ghana does not have equipment which would be used under such condition. “Looking for survivors’ search-and-rescue will become difficult because even trained dogs to sniff where people may be buried under the rubble will be a very difficult thing” Dr. Norman remarked.
The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), the ISDES boss noted is definitely in the same situation as most soul defense organizations in the world that is not able to predict earthquakes and added that what they could do is at least to prepare various communities on what to do. “Unfortunately, this is what is lacking in our part of the world,” Dr. Norman remarked.
He continued that usually with disaster such as what happened in Turkey, the first 12 hours is crucial because it is extremely difficult to search and rescue persons trapped under the rubble of earthquakes. According to him the situation gets serious if there rain after such disaster which will make it more difficult to search and rescue victims. “During disaster like that if the country is not fortunate and there is a rain the fatalities and death toll would go up just like we are witnessing in Turkey and Syria due to cold weather”, Dr. Norman stated.
What he said could make Ghana’s case worst should the country experience the magnitude of the earthquake Turkey experience are the kinds of building materials that are usually used in building houses in Ghana. “Truth is that here in Ghana most people build their houses with inferior building materials with the excuse that they are very expensive on the market. You can imagine what would happen should this magnitude of earthquake happen in Ghana, the casualties would be too much to bear as a country”, the ISDES boss stated.
-B FM current affairs show, Dr. Norman noted that the government of Ghana does not have the necessary equipment to save its citizens should the country experience an earthquake of the same or more than the magnitude which hit Turkey and Syria.
Two major earthquakes – measuring 7.8 and 7.5 on the magnitude scale – flattened buildings of all kinds and killed more than 19,000 people so far and counting across southern Turkey and northern Syria.
Media reports have projected the number of casualties to go upbecause several people are still being unaccounted for in areas when the earthquakes hit on Monday, February 6, 2023.
The ISDES CEO thinks that the situation would have been different the disaster occurred in Ghana and added that country may be handicapped in dealing with the effect of the disasterwhich he described as serious.
He told listeners of the show that the country’s preparedness and capabilities should it experience an earthquake with the situation Turkey and Syria finds themselves in now is very low.
According to him if Ghana experiences an earthquake and there is a collapse like it was witnesses in the case of Turkey and Syria where several high raised buildings collapsed it would have been difficult looking for survivors in the rubble due to the fact that Ghana does not have equipment which would be used under such condition. “Looking for survivors’ search-and-rescue will become difficult because even trained dogs to sniff where people may be buried under the rubble will be a very difficult thing” Dr. Norman remarked.
The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), the ISDES boss noted is definitely in the same situation as most soul defense organizations in the world that is not able to predict earthquakes and added that what they could do is at least to prepare various communities on what to do. “Unfortunately, this is what is lacking in our part of the world,” Dr. Norman remarked.
He continued that usually with disaster such as what happened in Turkey, the first 12 hours is crucial because it is extremely difficult to search and rescue persons trapped under the rubble of earthquakes. According to him the situation gets serious if there rain after such disaster which will make it more difficult to search and rescue victims. “During disaster like that if the country is not fortunate and there is a rain the fatalities and death toll would go up just like we are witnessing in Turkey and Syria due to cold weather”, Dr. Norman stated.
What he said could make Ghana’s case worst should the country experience the magnitude of the earthquake Turkey experience are the kinds of building materials that are usually used in building houses in Ghana. “Truth is that here in Ghana most people build their houses with inferior building materials with the excuse that they are very expensive on the market. You can imagine what would happen should this magnitude of earthquake happen in Ghana, the casualties would be too much to bear as a country”, the ISDES boss stated.
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