LISTEN: Wits professor confident of no more earthquakes in Joburg
BRAAMFONTEIN – Wits University's professor Susan Webb speaks on the earthquake recorded in Stilfontein, which subsequently spread out to parts of Joburg on 3 April.
Panic spread on 3 April as residents in certain parts of Joburg experienced the after effects of two earthquakes, one in Botswana and one in Stilfontein – a mining town situated between Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom.
The quakes in these areas resulted in seismic activity spreading out to certain parts of Joburg, subsequently causing fear among residents as no warnings had been issued by the South African Weather Services.
“Warnings could not have been issued, as these kinds of occurrences cannot be predicted,” Webb told City Buzz.
“It is [however] rather unusual to have two earthquakes on the same day [which] are completely unrelated to each other.”
She added that the occurrence of earthquakes in Joburg was unusual. “The ground that we’re on is not [located] on a plate boundary and so we generally don’t [experience] a lot of earthquakes,” which according to the professor does not preclude the possibility of seismic activity.
“The earthquake in Botswana was a fairly large event that occurred in an area that is not usually seismically active. However, detailed location studies are being conducted to determine what the relationship of the Stilfontein event is to the [surrounding] mining areas.”
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