Did you feel the tremor? Parts of Johannesburg is shook

An earth tremor was felt in the southern and western parts of Johannesburg on Friday morning around 7am.

Gauteng Weather swiftly reported it, stating it was a 3.7 magnitude tremor and the epicentre was near Randfontein, west of Johannesburg.

The Council for Geoscience later confirmed it, advising TimesLIVE it was measured as a 3.8 magnitude tremor.

"The South African National Seismograph Network automatic locator detected a seismic disturbance near Harmony Doornkop mining area (west of Johannesburg) on Friday at 6.56am," the council said.

"This is an automatic location and magnitude which may change once reviewed by a seismologist. This area falls more or less in the West and far West Rand mining region."

The council said there were five previous tremors with a 3.8 or higher magnitude in the area since 2005. They were:

• A 3.9 tremor on May 23 2005;
• A 3.9 tremor on July 13 2005;
• A 3.9 tremor on July 16 2005;
• A 3.9 tremor on June 14 2010; and
• A 3.8 tremor on October 20 2011.

Resident Happy Moloto commented on Facebook, "Felt it in Roodepoort. . . our building shook. . . I got really concerned. . .it was short but strong."

Shirley Main also shared on Facebook that the tremor was felt in Wilropark, Helderkruin and Roodepoort.

"It was loud and lasted for about 10 seconds. Was not the only one this week. We have felt two other rumbles earlier this week," she said. "It was not that pleasant. Hope there are no aftershocks."