Earthquake: Buildings evacuated
2005-03-09 13:52
Johannesburg - A number of buildings had to be evacuated in Stilfontein in the North West on Wednesday after an earthquake preliminarily
measuring five on the Richter Scale.
Emergency services in nearby Klerksdorp, about 200km south west
of Johannesburg, rushed to Stilfontein after several reports of
damaged buildings were received.
Spokesperson Mesh Letanta told Sapa an entire block of flats
housing elderly people had to be evacuated after the building was
severely damaged.
"It is no longer fit for human habitation," he said.
Two high schools in the mining town were also evacuated as the
walls were damaged.
He said by early Wednesday afternoon emergency services had
received a report of only one minor injury.
The tremor's epicentre was believed to be around Klerksdorp,
said Ian Saunders, project leader of the SA National Seismograph
Network at the Council for Geoscience in Pretoria.
He said such a measure was "quite serious" for South Africa,
which is an aseismic country (not prone to earthquakes).
"It's rather early to say anything," said Saunders.
He said the largest earthquake to have hit South Africa - in
Ceres in the Western Cape in 1969 - had measured 6.1 on the
Richter Scale.
It was not yet known whether the Klerksdorp quake was related to
mining or due to natural causes.
The tremor was felt as far as Johannesburg.
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- SAPA