JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – An earth tremor was experienced in large parts of Johannesburg on Tuesday night but no injuries or damage were reported.
The tremor was experienced at about 9pm in most parts of Johannesburg, Soweto, Roodepoort and surrounding areas, City of Johannesburg’s emergency services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said.
“No injuries and damage were reported through our emergency services call centre overnight and this morning [Wednesday]. Residents are encouraged to be safe,” Mulaudzi said.
The Council for Geoscience is still trying to confirm the magnitude of the tremor on the Richter Scale.
Earlier this year, a tremor hit Johannesburg south residents on June 29 and again on July 1 in the early hours of the morning.
The Council for Geoscience confirmed the earthquake registered a magnitude of about 2.6 and the tremor felt on the Saturday evening was of a 2.3 magnitude.
The tremor’s epicentre was located near Nasrec in the south of Johannesburg.
In February, near Nasrec, another earthquake was recorded in Soweto which registered a local magnitude of 3.4.
At the time, geology experts told TimesLIVE the frequent tremors in Johannesburg were related to mining activities.
“Sometimes, these are felt during blasts, but these days they are mostly related to old mined-out areas where stope collapse occurs. This can be caused by changing water levels in the old mined areas, but could also be related to destabilising of old mining areas when illegal miners remove ‘pillars’ which are areas underground not mined to support the roof of a stope,” senior lecturer at the University of Johannesburg’s department of geology Dr Herman van Niekerk said.
