A 5.0-magnitude earthquake on Sunday struck near Johannesburg, shaking buildings across South Africa’s most populous province, the Unites States Geological Survey reported.
The tremor struck at 2:38 am (0038 GMT) around 10 kilometres (six miles) below the surface, the USGS said.
Buildings shook across the province of Gauteng, where Johannesburg, the country’s largest city and commercial hub, is located.
Residents across the province felt the tremor and some posted pictures on social media showing minor structural damages of walls.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or any significant damage. An earthquake of that strength is classified as minor but would be clearly felt and might cause small damage to buildings.
An Associated Press journalist who lives close to the epicenter said the shaking felt like being on a moving train and lasted for about a minute.
Many South Africans in Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, said on social media they awoke to find the walls of their homes shaking. Local media published videos showing the moment the quake struck.
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Earthquakes are rare in South Africa. The last one to measure 5.0 magnitude or higher was in 2014, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That 5.4 magnitude quake had its epicenter near the gold mining town of Orkney in the North West province and one person was reported to have died.
One of the residents wrote on Twitter, “Earth tremor in Johannesburg. Longest and strongest I have felt! Went on for about 30 seconds, it felt like.”
In August 2014, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit a gold mining town near Johannesburg.
The last major quake to hit South Africa was a 6.3-magnitude tremor that struck the Western Cape province in 1969.
