South Africa: SA experiences earthquake aftershock

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - The town of Orkney in South Africa’s North West province was rocked by an aftershock Tuesday evening, just hours after a major 5.5 magnitude earthquake which had its epicentre in the gold mining town.

North West premier Supra Mahumapelo confirmed that one person was killed when a wall collapsed and at least 400 houses in the area had been damaged in the earthquake. All miners who were underground at the time of the earthquake were evacuated safely.

The earthquake was felt in most parts of the country, including the port cities of Durban and Cape Town. Residents in neighbouring Botswana and Mozambique reportedly also felt the tremors.

The Council for Geoscience has warned that more tremors, aftershocks and possibly a second quake of the same magnitude could occur over the next few days.
-0- PANA CU/SEG 6Aug2014