Are the ‘zama zamas’, ‘ANC’ or ‘Chiefs’ to blame?- Mzansi shook by Gauteng tremor

South Africans have flooded social media in reaction to a 2.7 magnitude tremor that shook several parts of Gauteng on Wednesday.

The Council for Geoscience (CGS) confirmed the tremor hit at around 21:44 SAST and was felt in Soweto, Krugersdorp and Roodepoort.

“The seismic event was located by means of the CGS’s automatic locator system through the South African National Seismograph Network, registering a preliminary local magnitude of approximately 2.7.

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“The event is estimated to be located within the broader Randfontein region in the West Rand. The CGS Seismologists are currently analysing the data and once this is concluded, subsequent communication will follow detailing the exact location and magnitude of the seismic event,” the CGS said.

No injuries or serious infrastructure damage has been recorded so far.

Chief scientist at the Council for Geoscience (CGS), Eldridge Kgaswane, said in SA any disturbance measuring higher than 4.0 is classified as an earthquake. While anything lower is classified locally as a tremor.

Social media was filled with reaction to the shake, with everyone from illegal miners to the ruling ANC and Kaizer Chiefs “blamed”.

Users joked that they would have to get used to monthly tremors, after several recent tremors in the province.

Just last month Gauteng residents experienced a 2.98 magnitude tremor originating in the southern part of the province.

“The earthquake registered a local magnitude of approximately 2.98, as recorded by the South African National Seismograph Network (SANS). The epicentre was located south of Johannesburg, 2 kilometres south of Harmony Doornkop Gold Mine,” the council said at the time.

ALSO READ: ‘Earthquake’ rattles parts of Joburg

In June, a powerful 4.4 magnitude earthquake.

“The earthquake registered a local magnitude of approximately 4.4 as recorded by the South African Seismograph Network (SANSN). The epicentre was located in the Boksburg area a few kilometres outside East Rand Proprietary Mine (ERPM), in the East Rand of Johannesburg”.

Additional reporting by Faizel Patel