An earthquake that measured 5.3 on the Richter magnitude scale hit South Africa at around 12:22 (local time), with residents of Pretoria, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, and Durban reporting feeling its effects. According to the U.S. Geological Survey website, the quake’s epicentre was 6km East of Orkney in the North West province. This is around 199km South West of Pretoria. The exact cause of the tremor is not yet known. Limited reports of damage and no information on casualties was available at the time of publication, with ER24 Potchefstroom saying that it had sent emergency crews to Orkney after receiving reports that houses had collapsed there. Update (13h48): ER24 has since reported that there has been one fatality in Orkney so far when a wall collapsed on a man, and that they are assisting at several mines.According to reports on social media, buildings were evacuated in Johannesburg, Umhlanga, and other cities during the quake. Tremors were also felt in neighbouring countries Botswana and Mozambique, according to Sapa. The SA Weather Service and the Council for Geosciences could not immediately be reached for details on the tremor, Sapa reported. The image below from the USGS website shows where the earthquake originated: South Africa earthquake 5 August 2014 Reporting with Sapa and Reuters. Update (13h24): Added information about ER24 sending crews to Orkney.(13h35): Tremors felt in Botswana and Mozambique.(13h54), from Sapa: Some mineworkers at Orkney in the North West were trapped following an earth tremor on Tuesday, said emergency workers. ER24 spokeswoman Luyanda Majija said they had received reports that the tremor had had a significant impact on one mine. “Our crew is heading to the mine where miners are reported to trapped at 11 shafts,” said Majija. She could not immediately confirm the name of the mine. The United States Geological Survey reported said the tremor was a 5.3 magnitude earthquake
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 12:11:54 +0000
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