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Two New Earthquakes in Ethiopia... Egyptian Expert: Seismic Activity Threatens Renaissance Dam
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Reservoir storage in the Renaissance Dam has exceeded the original American design by five times, increasing the likelihood of unforeseen geological risks
A geology and water resources expert has warned of the possibility that the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam may be entering a danger phase amid recent developments.
Dr. Abbas Sharaki, Professor of Geology and Water Resources at Cairo University, revealed in exclusive statements to "Al-Arabiya.net" and "Al-Hadath.net" that two new earthquakes measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale recently struck Ethiopia.
Sharaki added: "Two new earthquakes hit Ethiopia on November 1st. The first was magnitude 4.6 and occurred at a depth of 12.2 km at 8:55 PM, and the second was of the same magnitude at a depth of 10 km at 11:13 PM Cairo time. These are the tenth and eleventh earthquakes in just 5 weeks."
The Egyptian expert explained that the first tremor was recorded on September 27th at magnitude 4.5, followed by a series of earthquakes ranging from 4.5 to 5 degrees, at a depth of 10 km, all within the Ethiopian Rift Valley, which is about 570 km from the Renaissance Dam.
Sharaki explained that seismic activity in Ethiopia has increased unusually over the past three years, noting that the annual average was about 6 earthquakes, but rose to 12 earthquakes in 2022, jumped to 38 earthquakes in 2023, while 29 earthquakes have been recorded in Ethiopia and its vicinity so far this year.
The water resources and geology expert emphasized that "earthquakes of magnitude 5 Richter currently occurring far from the Renaissance Dam have no significant impact, but something stronger could occur in the vicinity of the Renaissance Dam, as happened on May 8, 2023, which was the closest earthquake to the Renaissance Dam, at a distance of 100 km with a magnitude of 4.4."
The water expert revealed that the Renaissance Dam contains 60 billion cubic meters of water, equivalent to 60 billion tons, adding: "Thus, the region enters a danger phase from the specter of collapse, not from current earthquakes but if they increase and approach the dam, and this reminds us of the original American design of the Renaissance Dam which was for storage of only 11.1 billion cubic meters."
Coinciding with these concerns, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced before the People's House of Representatives on Thursday that the construction of the Renaissance Dam is 100% complete.
Levant-Arabiya
