The earthquake felt in Cape Town and surrounding areas in the Western Cape shortly after 8.30pm on Saturday night was unrelated to the strong magnitude 6.2 earthquake about 1600km offshore of South Africa a short while earlier, according to the Council for Geoscience.
“The Council for Geoscience (CGS) can confirm that an earthquake occurred at 20:41 [8.41pm] on 26 September 2020,” the CGS said in a statement posted on Facebook.
The earthquake registered a preliminary 2.5 on the local magnitude scale as recorded by the South African Seismograph Network. Many reports had been received from residents of Cape Town who had reportedly experienced a tremor at around this time, the CGS said.
“It does not seem to be related to the earthquake that occurred at 19:10 [7.10pm] off the coast of South Africa.
“Furthermore, there has been no tsunami warning issued by the Indian Ocean warning system, and it is on this basis that the CGS would like to assure the South African public that there is no imminent threat to the affected area, [as] such no cause for panic,” the council statement said.
Earlier, it was reported that a strong magnitude 6.2 earthquake off the south-eastern coast of South Africa shook Cape Town and other parts of the coastline soon after 8.30pm local time (GMT + 2) on Saturday night.
Residents all over the city reported feeling the quake, which severely rattled homes and other buildings for about three to four seconds.
According to official US earthquake websites, the quake occurred at 7.10pm at a depth of about 10km and about 1600km offshore, on the South-west Indian Ridge. No tsunami was expected.
