Two tremors rattle KwaZulu-Natal

The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government on Sunday said it was roping in experts to understand the “minor earthquakes” that  have reportedly shaken the province over the past two days. 

In a statement, MEC for co-operative governance & traditional affairs Sihle Zikalala said they had noted reports by the public and several agencies on the earthquakes. 

“The department has established contact with the Council for Geoscience which is a legislated body to determine the extent of tremors and potential impacts in the affected areas,” said Zikalala. 

“The department is liaising with all disaster management teams in the districts to assess whether there was any damage to infrastructure. So far no injuries or fatalities have been reported,” Zikalala added. 

He called for calm and said disaster management machinery was monitoring the situation.

On its website, the Council for Geoscience recorded that both of the tremors reported in the KwaZulu-Natal region on Saturday and Sunday had a magnitude of 3.9, making them among the strongest to be reported in recent months. 

Speaking on eNCA on Saturday, Eldridge Kgaswane explained why there was not an immediate need for panic.

“We are on an intra-plate stress zone, meaning that we are on a stable continental region. We don't have a history of violent seismic occurrences in this country. You do have occasional earthquakes.... There isn't much to worry about,” Kgaswane said.  

According to one report, the latest tremor was also felt in parts of Lesotho.

TimesLIVE