Second tremor hits Cape Town

A second tremor occurred in Cape Town on Sunday morning. The Council for Geoscience (CGS) said the earth tremor was felt at 09:12. ‘’The earthquake registered a preliminary 2.3 on the magnitude scale as recorded by the South African Seismograph Network.’’

In a statement, the CGS said that the epicentre of the tremor was located about 5-6 kilometres north of Durbanville, Cape Town.

According to the CGS, the difference between an earthquake and an earth tremor, lies in the magnitude of the event. Within the South African context, a seismic event with a magnitude lower than 4.0 is considered a tremor.

Some Capetonians experienced tremors on Saturday night, after a slight earthquake was felt in certain parts of the city. According to official US earthquake websites, the quake occurred at 7.10pm at a depth of about 10km and about 1600km offshore, on the South-west Indian Ridge.

In a statement, the Council for Geoscience confirmed the event, saying the earthquake occurred at around 20:40 last night. It said that the earthquake registered a preliminary 2.5 on the local magnitude scale as recorded by the South African Seismograph Network.

The statement further read that it is not the initial earthquake that occurred at 19:10 off the coast of South Africa. There were no tsunami warnings or reports of damage.

The Western Cape’s MEC of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell says there is no need for panic.

 “We’re fortunate in the fact that the African continent is on a very stable tectonic plate. We do not have major fault lines. Specifically, Southern Africa is on a very stable fault line. This means our risk for earthquakes and tsunamis are very low. While there is always some seismic risk, we don’t believe there is a real threat for a mega earthquake of seven or more on the Richter scale in the Western Cape. While we can never rule it out completely, the science doesn’t support it. It also bears noting that a 7 on the Richter scale is considered to be 33 times stronger than a 6.”

The City of Cape Town has urged the public to report any potential impacts to their Public Emergency Communication Centre by dialing 021 480 7700 from a cellphone or 107 from a landline.

 

Done By: Mitchum George