South Africa’s Johannesburg was shaken by a 5.0 magnitude earthquake on Sunday, throwing tremors across country’s most populous province, the United States Geological Survey reported.
The United States Geological Survey reported that the tremor occurred at 2:38 am (0038 GMT) or 6:08 AM (IST) and was located around 10 kilometres (six miles) below the surface.
The quake caused buildings to shake in the Gauteng province, where Johannesburg is located. Many residents of Gauteng province reported on social media that the walls of their homes were shaking when the earthquake occurred. Videos of the quake were also published by local media outlets.
Earthquakes are a rare occurrence in South Africa, with the last one measuring 5.0 magnitude or higher taking place in 2014, as reported by the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicentre of that 5.4 magnitude quake was near Orkney, a gold mining town in the North West province, where one person was reported to have died. The last major earthquake in South Africa was a 6.3-magnitude tremor in the Western Cape province in 1969.
According to an Associated Press journalist living close to the epicentre, the recent earthquake in South Africa felt like being on a moving train and lasted about a minute.
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