30 treated after quake

2005-03-09 15:13

Johannesburg, South Africa - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5 shook parts of northern South Africa on Wednesday and caused some damage southwest of Johannesburg. There were no reports of serious injury.

The quake was centered near Klerksdorp, 200km southwest of Johannesburg, according to Ian Saunders with the National Seismograph Network at the department of geosciences in Pretoria.

Klerksdorp emergency services told the South African Press Association it had reports of one minor injury and damage to houses and apartment buildings in nearby Stilfontein.

Johannesburg radio station 702 reported that about 30 people had sought medical attention after being hit by falling debris or suffering stress-related ailments.

Mesh Letanta, a spokesperson for Klerksdorp emergency services, said one apartment block housing elderly people was severely damaged and had to evacuated.

"It is no longer fit for human habitation," he told SAPA.

Two high schools in the town also were evacuated after the quake caused cracks in some of the walls, he said.

Nearby mines also began evacuating workers from the shafts as several aftershocks shook the area.

Saunders told the agency the largest earthquake in South Africa hit in the Western Cape in 1969 and had a magnitude of 6.1. A quake of magnitude 5 can cause considerable damage.

- AP