South Africa rocked by series of earthquakes


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Four earthquakes hit South Africa on Thursday but no huge damages were
recorded, the country’s seismology unit has said.

Areas affected include Gauteng, the North West province and Limpopo.

According to reports, the first earthquake hit at 13:28 in the Gamoep area of
Limpopo and measured 2.4 on the Richter scale, with a depth of 5km.

The second earthquake was at 19:34 in Gauteng, along the Roodepoort mining belt, west of Johannesburg. It measured 2.4 on the Richter
scale and was recorded with a depth of 2km.

A third earthquake was recorded in the area of the West Rand gold mines in the North West at 23:42, measuring 2.9 with a depth of 2km.

A fourth was recorded at 23:49 in the same area, measuring 2.9 with a
depth of 2km.

Michelle Grobbelaar, manager of the seismology unit at the council said on Thursday that there had been an increase in quakes in the Johannesburg region, which they are trying to get to the bottom of.

“We have been noticing it not just through our measuring, but also through the public phoning us to tell us about them,” Grobbelaar is quoted saying.

Their initial feeling is that the quakes are related to mining activity and the number of abandoned mines in Johannesburg.

Eighty percent of the region’s quakes occur in gold mining areas.

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