Johannesburg - Johannesburg was hit by a 5.3 magnitude earth tremor at 12:22pm on Tuesday.
Gauteng Weather tweeted that the tremor was felt as far north as Pretoria down to parts of Vereeniging and may have been felt in neighbouring provinces including the North West and the Free State.
The tremor lasted a few seconds and workers and residents of the region experienced very strong shaking for around 5 seconds.
IOL staff based in Joburg’s CBD said this was one of the strongest tremors they had felt in recent times.
“The shaking was extremely strong for about five seconds and then tapered off but could still be felt for as many as five more seconds,” said editor Alastair Otter.
The US Geological Survey said the tremor was centred in Orkney, 120km southwest of Johannesburg, Reuters reported.
Sapa reports that the tremor was felt in various parts of the country, with a reporter in Durban saying the tremor was felt there too and people went out to the streets.
At Durban Bay House, one of the tallest buildings in the city, people had evacuated the building.
People immediately took to social media to report it.
“Who else just felt the earthquake. That was a crazy... tremor,” said Johannesburg resident Adrian Patrick on Facebook.
“Here in Durban too,” responded Byron David.
Citizens from Johannesburg to KwaZulu-Natal, North West, and Cape Town reported feeling the tremor.
Reports of buildings being evacuated in Johannesburg, Umhlanga, and other cities were also being reported on Twitter.
Johannesburg emergency services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi told Sapa that the tremor had been felt in most parts of the city.
"The city has not recieved any reports of injuries, or collapsed building. However we will be monitoring the situation."
The SA Weather Service and the Council for Geosciences could not immediately be reached for details on the tremor.
* This story is being updated as we get more information.