List of earthquakes in South Africa

The following is a list of notable earthquakes or tremors that have been detected within South Africa.

USGS seismicity map for South Africa

According to Professor Andrzej Kijko from the University of Pretoria's Natural Hazard Centre, mining can activate natural faults. He believes that 95% of South Africa's earthquakes are caused by mining, especially around the areas of Klerksdorp, Welkom and Carletonville. According to earth science consultant Dr Chris Hartnady, "This part of Africa is in the vicinity of the African Rift system, which is being pulled apart by a few millimetres annually." He says "earthquakes are caused by a slip on a fault line and the release of stored elastic energy" and mining activity can trigger earthquakes.^[1]

Earthquake data

For earthquakes prior to the modern era, the magnitude and epicentre location are only approximate, and were calculated based on available reports from the time. The magnitude where given is measured using the Richter scale (${\displaystyle M_{L}}$) unless stated otherwise.

1900s

Date	Time (SAST)	Epicentre	Region	${\displaystyle M_{L}}$	Depth	Deaths	Notes
29 September 1969		Near Tulbagh	Western Cape	6.3		12[2]	The 1969 Tulbagh earthquake remains the most destructive earthquake in South African history. The earthquake occurred in the Tulbagh area and measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, stronger than that of the 1809 Cape Town earthquake which destroyed a local Milnerton farm.[3][4]
14 April 1970		Tulbagh-Ceres-Wolseley area	Western Cape	5.7			Second quake[5]
8 December 1976		Welkom	Free State	5.2		4	Miners.[6]
26 September 1990		Welkom	Free State	4.2		2[6]

2000s

Date	Time (SAST)	Epicentre	Region	${\displaystyle M_{L}}$	Depth	Deaths	Notes
9 March 2005		Stilfontein,	North West	5.3		2	Miners were killed underground.[7][8]
28 May 2013		Near Mbabane	Eswatini	4.0			The earthquake was felt in Newcastle and lasted about six seconds.[9]
22 June 2013	07:08	Thabazimbi	Limpopo	3.9	9 km		The earthquake was felt up in the Thabazimbi area.[10]
7 July 2013	16:52	Barberton	Mpumalanga	4.7	5 km		The earthquake was felt in the Barberton area.[11]
11 November 2013		University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg	Gauteng	4.0			The earthquake was felt as far as parts of northern and southern Johannesburg and lasted for around 10–15 seconds.[12]
2 December 2013	21:18	~25 km south of Bela-Bela	Limpopo	4.8	5 km		The earthquake was felt as far as Parkhurst and Randburg in Johannesburg, Hartebeespoort Dam in North West, Witbank and KwaMhlanga in Mpumalanga, and Soshanguve near Pretoria.[13][14]
15 June 2014	18:16	Near Orkney	North West	4.9	5 km		The earthquake was felt up to Potchefstroom.[15]
5 August 2014	12:22	Near Orkney	North West	5.5	5.0 km		The earthquake was felt as far as parts of Botswana and Durban, it lasted for around 90 sec. The local Council for Geoscience measured the earthquake at 5.5 on the Richter scale, while the United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded a moment magnitude of 5.4.[16][17][18][19]
22 August 2014	1:14	Near Orange Farm	Gauteng	3.8	10 km		The second earthquake in South Africa in less than three weeks.[20] No reports of injuries.[21] The Council for Geoscience (CGS) in South Africa reported an earthquake of 3.8 with two aftershocks occurring within minutes of each other of 3.2 and 2.0 respectively.[22]
31 October 2019	13:20	Near Port Shepstone	KwaZulu-Natal	4.3	10 km		The CGS reported an earthquake of a preliminary value of 3.7 on the local magnitude scale. However, the USGS has it logged as 4.3[23][24]
26 September 2020	19:10	1600 km SE of South Africa	Western Cape	6.1	10 km		USGS report.[25] Mistakenly reported to have been felt in Cape Town. See below earthquake.
26 September 2020	20:41	12 km W of Paarl	Western Cape	2.7	5 km		Felt by residents in Cape Town area. CGS report.[26] USGS report.[27]
27 September 2020	09:12	Durbanville Area, Cape Town	Western Cape	2.6	5 km		Felt by residents in Cape Town area. CGS report.[28] USGS report.[29]
17 November 2020	00:27	41 km S of Saldanha	Western Cape	3.5	5 km		Felt by residents in Cape Town area. CGS report.[30] USGS report.[31]
30 July 2021	06:30	Johannesburg	Gauteng	3.6	10 km		Felt by residents in Johannesburg. CGS report. USGS report.[32]
5 November 2022	14:32	23 km from Umvoti Local Municipality	KwaZulu-Natal	4.6	9 km		Felt by residents in Durban area.
11 June 2023	02:38	2 kilometers from Alberton.	Gauteng	5.0	10 km		Felt by residents across the city of Johannesburg and the region as a whole.[33]
22 December 2024	02:51	284 kilometers SW of Upington.	Northern Cape	5.3	10 km		Felt as far away as Namibia and Cape Town. 2 aftershocks: 3.0 and 3.4 ${\displaystyle M_{L}}$.[34]

See also

• Geology of South Africa