‘Our whole house shook’ — residents reel from earthquake and aftershocks in the Northern Cape

In the early hours of Sunday, 22 December 2024, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck about 100km west of Brandvlei, 170km east-southeast of Springbok, 300km southwest of Upington, and 400 km north-northeast of Cape Town – followed by several aftershocks, shaking the region and raising questions about seismic activity in South Africa.

Brandvlei in the Northern Cape. (Photo: Tom Pierce / Spotlight)

“Our whole house shook and I thought it would fall apart. That was the worst earthquake we’ve ever had,” Drienie Visser, a farmer who lives about 40km from Loeriesfontein in the Northern Cape, told Daily Maverick. 

The Council for Geoscience (CGS), custodian of the South African Seismograph Network (SANS) which monitors seismic wave activities throughout the country, confirmed that an “unusual” earthquake occurred on Sunday at 2:51 am with a magnitude of about 5.3 along with an aftershock at 5:28am with a magnitude of 2.9.

The epicentres were located within 20km, southwest of Buchufontein in Northern Cape, affecting several regions. The council said reports of aftershocks that had been felt in other parts of the country were being analysed.

Professor Raymond Durrheim, former South African Research Chair in Exploration, Earthquake and Mining Seismology at Wits and now appointed as a professor in the School of Geosciences, said: “This region is known for swarms and clusters of seismic events. There was a 4.3 [magnitude] earthquake on 3 December 2024 near Komaggas that was felt in Springbok, [and] two events with [a magnitude of greater than five] occurred in the 1970s.”

Durrheim said the CGS reported 10 aftershocks in the 12 or so hours following the 5.3 magnitude earthquake, the largest being the 2.3 aftershock. He warned that aftershocks could continue for weeks or even months as the crust returns to equilibrium.

Shaken awake by Northern Cape quake

Visser and her husband were sleeping when at about 2:50am on Sunday, they awoke to what sounded like thunder and felt vibrations from the earthquake that struck regions in South Africa and Namibia. 

“This earthquake was more intense than in previous years because our entire house shook. The previous quakes were only light, but the quake from this morning was very bad. It made us scared.

“My husband and I were lying in bed holding each other thinking we would just have to die together,” Visser said when recounting her experience from Sunday morning. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JuVbaOydkg&source_ve_path=OTY3MTQ

Also near Leoriesfontain, sheep farmer Lettie Malan said, “It was quite dramatic and was actually the worst one we have felt over here, I think because we are quite close to the epicentre.”

Malan and her husband were also sleeping when the headboard of their bed started shaking at the time of the earthquake. They got up and were joined by guests from Cape Town, who were also woken by the tremors.

After about two minutes, they realised it was an earthquake and everyone was quite shaken. They made some coffee, relaxed for a while and headed back to bed.

“People started saying that maybe the Earth is shaking [because of] the big rain that’s coming because of the drought. That would be very welcome. Maybe something is shifting in the atmosphere. We always get hopeful,” Visser said

In Uitspankolk, Franchwa Batt, chairperson of the Loeriesfontein Farmers’ Union, said they normally had earthquakes there, but not to the extent of last night’s. 

“It was like one big shot going off, and then everything started drilling, the windows started rattling and everything,” Batt said.

“Nothing fell over but everything rattled, you can literally feel it coming through the house. Lying on the bed, you could feel it going through your body as well. The windows rattled, the roof groaned and creaked, the dogs just stopped barking, and the geese only came back now [after running away during the earthquake],” Durrheim said.

https://youtu.be/FRMNuood41s?si=nPpX3zADNVhPbnax

 

According to the farmer’s union, no farmers had reported any damage yet. Their main worry was if boreholes had been affected, as they were quite sensitive to vibration, especially with the severe drought conditions currently affecting the Northern Cape.

About 65km from Sutherland, towards Calvinia in the Northern Cape, De-Manndi Symington said they also woke up because of the bed shaking and at first thought it was their dog or cat scratching themselves, but soon realised there was no animal in the room. However, that was all they felt.

Area under observation

CGS spokesperson Mahlatse Mononela said, “The earthquake is unusual” as the Northern Cape was seismically relatively quiescent. 

“Aftershocks are as a result of the ground trying to elastically resume a stable position after being displaced. These are expected to be felt at different locations,” Mononela said.

It was not clear what the long-term geological implications were and they would need to keep this area under observation, he said.

“Part of the problem is that there is unclear historical seismicity near the epicentre. We will be investigating this 5.3 [magnitude] main shock and further details,” Mononela said.

Durrheim explained that the epicentre (the point on the Earth’s surface above where rupture began) lay in a sparsely populated region, about 100km west of Brandvlei, 170km east-southeast of Springbok, 300km southwest of Upington, and 400km north-northeast of Cape Town. 

“It is unlikely the rupture would reach the Earth’s surface and create a visible fault scarp,” Durheim said.

The earthquake was felt as far afield as Cape Town, some 400km from the epicentre. More than 200 Capetonians filled in “Did you feel it” responses on the United States Geological Survey web page.

The council has not had reports of immediate damage to property and infrastructure or even within communities, but encouraged the public to report any damage experienced.

Durheim said damage and injury from an event such as this would be unlikely, but not impossible, for an M5.3 earthquake in a remote and flat region not prone to landslides. DM