On the 27th of September, Cape Town experienced a mild tremor that was felt in the city and throughout the suburbs. There were also aftershocks due to a second earthquake little over an hour thereafter. The first earthquake occurred under the ocean around 19:10 and had a magnitude 6.1, while the one that followed was 2.5.
Even though it was speculated that the one felt by the Mother City was the 6.1 earthquake, it wasn’t. The first one occurred 1,600 kilometers from Cape Town, 10 kilometers deep in the ocean. If the city did feel it if it was closer, there would’ve been a possible tsunami on the western coast of South Africa. Luckily, that was not the case.
2020 Brings a Quake to Shake Up Cape Town Residents
No tsunami warning was issued by the warning system in the Indian Ocean, along with no other threat to residents. Even though this was positive news received, there was a lot of panic about this earthquake. As we know, earthquakes happen all the time all around the world, but in some places more than others. However, the last time South Africa recorded an earthquake was in 1969 in Tulbagh. That’s just over fifty years ago.
Cape Town has always been lucky to avoid natural disasters, but it seems as though the tectonic plates of the earth are continuing to move. Although the city was shaken up, no damage was done to houses, buildings, or infrastructure. Even the shores were safe after the earthquake occurred.
On Saturday, residents took to Facebook and Twitter to express the fear and excitement about the quake felt in Cape Town, especially about the tremors felt in the morning hours. Residents all over the city counted three tremors. Experts claim that there were more aftershocks than those felt by residents, which will continue for a few days.
