Johannesburg - Residents across Gauteng and the North West were given a rude awakening after an earth tremor hit the provinces just after 5am.
The US Geological Services (USGS) measured the tremor at 5.2 on the Richter Scale with the epicentre 8 km from Stilfontein, in-between Klerksdorp and Orkney.
The USGS added that its depth was about 5 km.
The Council for Geoscience (CGS) confirmed this morning's tremor, adding that it was “strong” for South African standards.
The area where the tremor hit is a well-known gold mining region with CGS explaining that the cause could be mining related, however the exact cause is not known at this stage.
When asked whether there was any damage, the North West Disaster and Emergency Services spokesperson Ben Bole (corr) said they were still in the process of gathering information and would release a statement soon.
Residents from across North West, Gauteng and the Free State took to social media in reaction the mini-quake which was felt as far as Centurion.
@deutorn said the “tremor was literally five seconds long but I could see my whole life flash and planned how I will escape from the house rubble”, while @OJ_Molema said he swore his bed was moving last night.
“I thought it was my heartbeat,” he tweeted.
@ohmlebethe asked fellow users if they had felt it “or was it just in Klerksdorp”?
“Let me ask for forgiveness before the world ends,” he said.
@Avile_Hlakuva1 joked that the #EarthTremor was “the Gods showing their wrath towards Zupta perhaps”, with @JCos01 expressing that this “was a warning shot to the people of South Africa – Get rid of the Zuptas or else…”.
@Lanc_02