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List of earthquakes in South Africa

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by TheAlteredState (talk | contribs) at 06:11, 6 August 2014 (→‎20th and 21st century). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The following is a list of notable earthquakes or tremors that have been detected within South Africa. The causes of earthquakes in South Africa are unclear but are often believed to be related to mining activities in the area.

Earthquakes data

For earthquakes prior to the modern era, the magnitude and epicentre location are only approximate, and were calculated based on available reports from the time. The magnitude where given is measured using the Richter scale ().

20th and 21st century

Date Epicentre Notes
29 September 1969 Near Tulbagh 6.3 The Ceres earthquake of 1969 remains the most destructive earthquake in South African history. The earthquake occurred on the 29 September 1969 in the Ceres/Tulbagh area and registered an alarming 6.3 on the Richter scale, stronger than that of the 1809 Cape Town earthquake which destroyed a local Milnerton Farm.[1]
28 May 2013 Near Mbabane 4.0 Felt in Newcastle and lasted about six seconds.[2]
18 November 2013 University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, Gauteng 4.0 The tremor was felt as far as parts of northern & southern Johannesburg and lasted for around 10–15 seconds.[3]
2 December 2013 ~25 km south of Bela-Bela, Limpopo 4.0 Felt as far as Parkhurst and Randburg in Johannesburg, Hartebeespoort Dam in North West, Witbank and KwaMhlanga in Mpumalanga, and Soshanguve near Pretoria [4]
5 August 2014 Near Orkney, North West 5.3 The earthquake was felt as far as parts of Botswana and Durban, it lasted for around 90 sec.[5][6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ceres earthquake". 9 March 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Tremor hits northern KZN". IOL News. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Earth tremor felt in Joburg". IOL News. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  4. ^ "Tremor strikes near Bela Bela". IOL News. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  5. ^ "Aardbewing van 5.3 ruk SA, berigte van skade (twiets)". Beeld. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  6. ^ "M5.3 - 6km E of Orkney, South Africa". United States Geological Survey. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
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