Residents in Westonaria, Gauteng, were awakened by a 4.2 magnitude tremor. The incident happened on Sunday 30 October.
Reports state that seismic activity approximately 10 kilometres from Westonaria resulted in a tremor hitting Joburg South.
That is a light earthquake per the Richter scale.
According to volcanodiscovery.com the incident happened early morning on Sunday, October 30th 2022, at 04:25 am local time.
“The quake hit a shallow depth of 10km beneath the epicentre near Westonaria, West Rand District Municipality, Gauteng, South Africa, early morning on Sunday, October 30th, at 04:25 am local time.
“The next magnitude, epicentre and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by the citizen-seismograph network of RaspBerryShake, which listed it as a magnitude 3.0 earthquake as well.
Currently, no casualties or damage caused by the tremor have been reported.
Residents have however, been cautioned to remain vigilant. Aftershocks can be felt hours, days or weeks following a tremor or earthquake.
The aftershocks could also cause building damage and injuries due to falling debris.
Meanwhile, on 17 August, it was reported that a number of locals are adamant they were affected by a tremor overnight, which allegedly shook homes and caused disruptions in the city. One social media user said the tremor ‘felt like an explosion’.
Johannesburg is not new to experiencing tremors. In July 2022, a magnitude 3.8on the Ritcher Scale was recorded in the metropolitan area. The supposed seismic activity detected in Jozi last night is likely to be milder, ranging from 2.0to 3.0 given its minimal impact.
Domestic experts have yet to make a declaration- but the team at VolcanicDiscovery did catch some action underfoot.
“We are receiving reports of ground-shaking, possibly caused by seismic activity in or near Johannesburg Gauteng, on 16 August 2022 at approximately 21:29 GMT. The location, magnitude and time mentioned are indicative, based on our best-fit seismic model,” said VolcanicDiscovery.
Source: The South African, Briefly, Kaya fm, ENCA, image from Twitter: @eNCA