Magnitude 4.9 earthquake strikes near Giyani, Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo, South Africa

South Africa's Council for Geoscience (CGS) reported a magnitude 4.9 quake in South Africa near Giyani, Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo, only 12 minutes ago. The earthquake hit early afternoon on Thursday 5 August 2021 at 3:42 pm local time at a shallow depth of 10 km. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc.
In Giyani (pop. 37,000) located 7 km from the epicenter, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Thohoyandou (pop. 44,000) located 41 km from the epicenter, Louis Trichardt (pop. 86,900) 86 km away, and Phalaborwa (pop. 109,500) 89 km away.

VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

Earthquake data:
Date & time: 5 Aug 2021 3:42 pm (GMT +2) local time (5 Aug 2021 13:42 GMT)
Magnitude: 4.9
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 23.24°S / 30.72°E (Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo, South Africa)
Primary data source: CGS