Seismologists and locals report that a 5.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Johannesburg, South Africa, woke up residents and damaged several buildings. The entire city and region was shaken to a great extent.
Seismologists report that the earthquake, which occurred at 2:38 a.m. on Sunday, was centered just 6 kilometers south of Alberton and roughly 16 kilometers southeast of metropolitan Johannesburg.
The earthquake was reported to have a magnitude of 5.0 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and 4.7 by the Council for Geoscience of South Africa. The depth of the earthquake was only about 10 kilometers, which is extremely shallow.
Although several residences had relatively modest damage and other people claimed the shaking was severe enough to wake them up, there were no early reports of injuries. One Alberton homeowner claimed that the entire house had shaken for roughly 40 seconds.
Send an email to tips@bnonews.com if you felt the earthquake to let us know where you are and what you experienced.
Since a 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck close to Soweto in March 2019, this tremor has been the strongest to hit the Johannesburg area. A 5.2-magnitude earthquake occurred nearby Stilfontein in 2017.