Council of Geoscience confirmed a seismic event at 9:17am, 5 km southwest of Odendaalsrus in the Free State gold mining area.
CGS says SANSN registered a local magnitude of 3.3. Picture: VolcanoDiscovery
The Council of Geoscience (CGS) has confirmed that a seismic event happened on Friday morning in the Welkom area in the Free State.
The CGS said the incident happened at 9:17am. The South African National Seismograph Network (SANSN) said the tremor registered a local magnitude of 3.3.
SANSN registered a local magnitude of 3.3 – CGS
“The epicentre was located in the Welkom gold mining region, approximately 5km southwest of the mining town of Odendaalsrus in the Free State province,” CGS said.
VolcanoDiscovery, an independent scientific, educational website and tracking platform that provides real-time global updates on volcanic activity and earthquakes, said people likely experienced weak shaking during the event.
The platform received 20 reports for the seismic event from South Africa. Residents reported feeling it as far as 7.2 to 8.9km away.
Residents report 5 to 7 seconds of shaking roof and creaking
“Could hear it getting closer. I was indoors and house shook and windows and doors rattled. Got quite a fright, and it lasted about 5-7 seconds,” one user who was 5.8km from the epicentre reported.
“It felt like the earth will give way under my feet,” another user who was 7.7 km from the epicentre wrote.
“Roof was creaking and vibration,” someone else who was 8.8 km from the epicentre reported.
