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Powerful earthquake hits large parts of Gauteng
The tremor was felt in several areas including Johannesburg at approxiamately 2:38am early on Sunday morning.
A tremor hit parts of Gauteng on Wednesday. Photo: iStock
South Africans were awoken to a powerful 4.4 magnitude earthquake which was felt across large parts of Gauteng.
The earthquake hit the Gauteng province at approximately 2:38am early on Sunday morning causing homes and buildings to shake.
Magnitude
The National Council for Geoscience said Sunday morning’s tremor in Gauteng measured a magnitude of 4.4.
The council’s website earlier stated the magnitude at 4.7.
“The earthquake registered a local magnitude of approximately 4.4 as recorded by the South African Seismograph Network (SANSN). The epicentre was located in the Boksburg area a few kilometres outside East Rand Proprietary Mine (ERPM), in the East Rand of Johannesburg,” it said.
Earlier, regional weather service Gauteng Weather initially shared the details of the earthquake on social media platform Twitter.
“Estimated 4.5-magnitude tremor with epicentre near Boksburg, felt across large parts of Gauteng at 02:38am,” it tweeted.
However, some estimates suggested the relatively long earthquake was as high as 5.0 magnitude.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) also announced the incident saying the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 and struck about 10 kilometers below the surface.
According to the SA National Seismograph Network, Sunday morning’s tremor was significantly more intense than other recent events.
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Damages
There have been no immediate reports of any damages or injuries to people.
The earthquake which lasted for a few seconds was felt as far as Pretoria and even other provinces across the country.
South Africans took to social media to share their experiences of being of frightened and awoken by their homes shaking and furniture rattling.
Free State tremor
In March, the Free State was also hit in by earth tremors, but did not cause any damages.
The Council for Geoscience (CGS) confirmed that the earthquake hit about 60km south of Bloemfontein.
The quake happened just before 9am.
According to CGS, the earthquake registered a preliminary 3.6 on the local magnitude scale as recorded by the South African Seismograph Network.
“The epicentre was located at about 60km south of Bloemfontein, in the Biesiefontein area,” it said.
ALSO READ: Free State hit by earthquake but tremors did not cause much damage
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