A warning has been issued to fishermen in the Cape region today after a strong earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.6 on the Richter scale, hit the South Sandwich Islands Region and South Georgia last night.
Herman Pieters, senior communications officer from the Garden Route Municipality said in a statement today that the South African Weather Service informed the Garden Route District Municipality’s Disaster Management Centre of a 6.6 magnitude earthquake near the South Sandwich Islands Region and South Georgia last night.
“It took place 2768 km from Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. As a result of this, there is a possibility of a higher sea swell between 11am and 1pm today. Not a significant impact, but we expect a 0.5m rise above the normal high water mark. We would like to advise fishermen to be cautious during this time,” said Pieters.
More information released showed that the epicentre of the quake is 3,740km southeast from Puerto Montt, Chile, at a depth of 36km.