South Africa has experienced four significant seismic events over the past few weeks, the latest of which shook Gauteng just after noon on Tuesday, October 13.
A tremor that registered as 2.9 on the Richter Scale hit Gauteng at 12.01pm, according to preliminary data provided by the Council of Geoscience.This makes it slightly stronger than the 2.8-magnitude tremor that rocked the province at the beginning of October.
The difference between an earthquake and a tremor lies in the magnitude of the event, according to the Council of Geoscience. In South Africa, any seismic event with a magnitude lower than 4 is considered a tremor.
The epicentre of the tremor is believed to be somewhere between Roodepoort and Randfontein. Therefore, the tremor was more likely to be felt by those in the western parts of Gauteng.
⚠️ ALERT: Council of Geoscience records 2.9-magnitude TREMOR, with epicentre between Roodepoort and Randfontein at 12:01 on Tuesday afternoon! Today’s slightly stronger tremor is near the same area as the one on 1 October. pic.twitter.com/40H2hlxv34
— Gauteng Weather (@tWeatherSA) October 13, 2020
Tuesday’s tremor is the biggest seismic event to be felt on mainland South Africa. The first event, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake occurred offshore, and was followed by a couple of tremors in the Western Cape, the largest of which registered 2.8 on the Richter Scale.
Picture: Wikimedia Commons