The South African Council of Geoscience on Saturday night confirmed that an earthquake had been registered near that Harmony Doornkop Gold Mine, on Gauteng’s West Rand.
According to the council, the seismic event occurred at about 6.46pm.
“The earthquake registered a magnitude of approximately 2.98 as registered by the South African National Seismograph Network (SANSN),” the council wrote in a statement.
It called for the public to register their experiences using their online survey.
Meanwhile, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi also confirmed the occurrence of the earthquake.
“We are awaiting official confirmation of the #Tremor around Roodepoort/Kagiso/Soweto area. Our emergency teams are combing the area,” he wrote on Twitter.
It is unclear at this stage if any damage was caused to properties or infrastructure in the area.
Rietvlei resident Tshepiso Ramollo said she felt the earthquake but was fine.
“It seems that it’s becoming a norm in this is area,” she said.
Rietvlei is not far from the Harmony Gold Mine.
We are awaiting official confirmation of the #Tremor around Roodepoort/Kagiso/Soweto area. Our emergency teams are combing the area
— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) July 22, 2023
Meanwhile, this adds to another other earthquake reported in the province in the last few weeks.
In June, residents in the East Rand were were woken up by a 4.7 magnitude earthquake in the early hours of the morning.
The epicentre was in Boksburg.
By 10.pm, there were no reports of injuries from emergency services personnel.
*This is a developing story
IOL