Western Cape govt: No real threat of mega-earthquake
Western Cape Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell says the tremors which hit Cape Town over the weekend is no cause for panic.
The Western Cape government says a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was felt 9 kilometres north of Cape Town, but there were no reports of casualties and damages.
There was also no tsunami warning issued.
Bredell says the risks for earthquake and tsunamis in South Africa are very low.
"While there is always some seismic risk, we don’t believe there is a real threat for a mega-earthquake of seven or more on the Richter scale in the Western Cape.
“While we can never rule it out completely, the science doesn’t support it. It also bears noting that a 7 on the Richter scale is considered to be 33 times stronger than a 6.”
Bredell says the Koeberg nuclear plant, which would be most at risk, was built to withstand a lot of seismic activity.
“The Western Cape government, over the past ten years, has developed an excellent disaster response system to save people from trapped buildings in a disaster situation should the need arise."
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