My neighbour says the earthquake hit Gauteng on Sunday morning because the devil was running away from what God is about to do in Gauteng. We laughed and thought seriously about the potential growth points in Gauteng this season.
The Gauteng GDP is measured at R1, 5 trillion (March 2023), the single largest contributor to the country’s economy and Africa’s 7th biggest economy.
My neighbour swears foreign direct investment will grow against international bias that South Africa is for Russia, even though she has been speaking peace and goodwill over Lady R scandals.
I wanted to disagree with her until I read for myself, the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency say 6 of 10 projects in Gauteng go to manufacturing and subsections. Well, I wonder how much of renewable energy that is?
The Provincial Government of Gauteng identified areas of growth as energy technologies, transport and logistics, ICT and media services, tourism and hospitality, agriculture, construction and infrastructure, financial services and other.
But with rising accounts of weather and natural disasters, is everything not at risk, even FDI?
This is not the first time, the highveld has had surprise earthquakes.
Back in March 2023, The Council for Geoscience (CGS) confirmed there was another earthquake in the Free State, one early morning around 08:54 am. The earthquake registered a preliminary 3.6 on the local magnitude scale as recorded by the South African Seismograph Network.
Sunday early morning’s earthquake took Johannesburg by storm. The U.S. Geological Survey, which records earthquakes around the world, is said to have recorded a 5.0 magnitude earthquake at around 2:38 am.
There is no confirmation that Weather SA was aware since there was no alert issued. The Geological Council was also not aware of it, and has called for a further investigation into mining activity.
When Earthnews365 asked the Weather Service if there were sufficient weather alerts last month, they replied yes and shared a link, shared with you regarding all alerts for weather events.
This makes me believe my neighbour’s story about the cause of the earthquake. :).
Earthquake Magnitude Scale
Table: Michigan Tech
| Magnitude | Earthquake Effects |
|---|---|
| 2.5 or less | Usually not felt, but can be recorded by seismograph. |
| 2.5 to 5.4 | Often felt, but only causes minor damage. |
| 5.5 to 6.0 | Slight damage to buildings and other structures. |
| 6.1 to 6.9 | May cause a lot of damage in very populated area |