Durban - Professor Jasper Knight of Wits University’s School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, says earthquakes in South Africa are not a rare occurrence, however the two incidents of seismic activity in KwaZulu-Natal at the weekend are unusual in location.
On Sunday, the Council for Geoscience confirmed that an earthquake had occurred earlier that day.
“At 9.29am, an earthquake registered a preliminary magnitude of 3.9 on the local magnitude scale as recorded by the South African Seismograph Network (SANSN), with a preliminary epicentre located in the Nkangala region of KwaZulu-Natal, approximately 40km north of Kokstad,” said spokesperson Mahlatse Mononela.
The CGS said there was a separate earthquake on Saturday at about 2.32pm.
Mononela said the epicentre was located approximately 40km north-east of Greytown and 30km east of Tugela Ferry, in KZN.
“This earthquake also registered a preliminary magnitude of 3.9 on the local magnitude scale as recorded by the SANSN,” he said.
He said the two earthquakes did not occur along the same geological structure or fault line but might be inter-related on a much more regional scale.
“Moreover, the CGS would like to assure the South African public that there is no cause for panic,” Mononela said.
Knight explained that earthquakes occur regularly in SA.
“The two at the weekend were quite shallow and on the ground surface, so there is no damage,” he said.
Knight said the continent is an older continent and there are lots of fault lines that are weaker throughout the earth’s crust.
“There are not too many earthquakes in KZN, so this is useful for geologists to study and pick up seismic information to better understand these developments.
“There are often seismic events but they occur further north, further from the recent locations, which are more inland.
“This provides useful information for geoscience and the rocks beneath our feet and how they interact with each other,” Knight said.
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