EveryQuake
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Earthquakes in South Africa

3,120 earthquakes catalogued in and around South Africa between 1912 and 2026. Recorded measurements; not a forecast.

Last updated 4 August 2026 · merged from 5 catalogues
2.3
Latest earthquake · depth 10 km
03.08.2026 11:52 UTC · from centre 1011 km
3,120
recorded earthquakes
M7.0
largest
1912–2026
record span
3.39
mean magnitude
3,020
epicentre inside the border

By year

Stacked by magnitude; one column per year.

02965931912: 2 (M5+)19121919: 2 (M5+)1920: 1 (M5+)19211924: 1 (M5+)1926: 1 (M5+)1927: 1 (M5+)19301932: 1 (M5+)19391940: 1 (M5+)1941: 2 (M5+)19481951: 1 (M5+)1957: 2 (M5+)19571964: 1 (M5+)1965: 1 (M4–5)1966: 3 (M4–5)19661967: 6 (M4–5)1967: 1 (M5+)1968: 1 (M4–5)1968: 4 (M5+)1969: 1 (M4–5)1969: 3 (M5+)1970: 3 (M4–5)1970: 1 (M5+)1971: 3 (M4–5)1972: 4 (M4–5)1973: 12 (M4–5)1973: 9 (M5+)1974: 1 (M4–5)1974: 4 (M5+)1975: 4 (M4–5)1975: 1 (M5+)19751976: 1 (M4–5)1976: 2 (M5+)1977: 7 (M4–5)1977: 1 (M5+)1978: 3 (M4–5)1978: 3 (M5+)1979: 6 (M4–5)1979: 1 (M5+)1980: 10 (M4–5)1980: 1 (M5+)1981: 5 (M3–4)1981: 9 (M4–5)1982: 9 (M4–5)1982: 1 (M5+)1983: 1 (M3–4)1983: 8 (M4–5)1983: 3 (M5+)1984: 9 (M4–5)1984: 3 (M5+)19841985: 5 (M4–5)1986: 1 (M<3)1986: 5 (M3–4)1986: 11 (M4–5)1986: 4 (M5+)1987: 15 (M3–4)1987: 12 (M4–5)1987: 1 (M5+)1988: 8 (M3–4)1988: 7 (M4–5)1988: 3 (M5+)1989: 9 (M3–4)1989: 5 (M4–5)1989: 1 (M5+)1990: 63 (M<3)1990: 27 (M3–4)1990: 9 (M4–5)1990: 1 (M5+)1991: 28 (M3–4)1991: 7 (M4–5)1991: 1 (M5+)1992: 21 (M3–4)1992: 17 (M4–5)1992: 1 (M5+)1993: 414 (M<3)1993: 161 (M3–4)1993: 16 (M4–5)1993: 2 (M5+)19931994: 246 (M<3)1994: 79 (M3–4)1994: 17 (M4–5)1994: 1 (M5+)1995: 38 (M<3)1995: 27 (M3–4)1995: 19 (M4–5)1996: 76 (M<3)1996: 19 (M3–4)1996: 24 (M4–5)1997: 3 (M3–4)1997: 29 (M4–5)1997: 2 (M5+)1998: 1 (M3–4)1998: 24 (M4–5)1999: 5 (M3–4)1999: 28 (M4–5)2000: 5 (M3–4)2000: 21 (M4–5)2000: 1 (M5+)2001: 3 (M3–4)2001: 19 (M4–5)2001: 1 (M5+)2002: 24 (M4–5)2002: 2 (M5+)20022003: 2 (M<3)2003: 1 (M3–4)2003: 10 (M4–5)2003: 2 (M5+)2004: 4 (M<3)2004: 1 (M3–4)2004: 12 (M4–5)2004: 1 (M5+)2005: 3 (M<3)2005: 8 (M3–4)2005: 15 (M4–5)2005: 3 (M5+)2006: 3 (M<3)2006: 7 (M3–4)2006: 36 (M4–5)2006: 4 (M5+)2007: 5 (M<3)2007: 3 (M3–4)2007: 19 (M4–5)2007: 3 (M5+)2008: 8 (M<3)2008: 5 (M3–4)2008: 9 (M4–5)2008: 3 (M5+)2009: 13 (M<3)2009: 8 (M3–4)2009: 29 (M4–5)2009: 2 (M5+)2010: 13 (M<3)2010: 12 (M3–4)2010: 22 (M4–5)2011: 60 (M<3)2011: 15 (M3–4)2011: 19 (M4–5)20112012: 8 (M3–4)2012: 9 (M4–5)2013: 4 (M3–4)2013: 17 (M4–5)2013: 5 (M5+)2014: 10 (M3–4)2014: 30 (M4–5)2014: 3 (M5+)2015: 14 (M<3)2015: 14 (M3–4)2015: 47 (M4–5)2015: 2 (M5+)2016: 20 (M<3)2016: 21 (M3–4)2016: 53 (M4–5)2016: 3 (M5+)2017: 9 (M3–4)2017: 15 (M4–5)2017: 2 (M5+)2018: 1 (M<3)2018: 5 (M3–4)2018: 21 (M4–5)2019: 14 (M3–4)2019: 15 (M4–5)2019: 2 (M5+)2020: 58 (M<3)2020: 30 (M3–4)2020: 15 (M4–5)2020: 1 (M5+)20202021: 22 (M3–4)2021: 16 (M4–5)2021: 3 (M5+)2022: 1 (M<3)2022: 55 (M3–4)2022: 24 (M4–5)2023: 1 (M<3)2023: 90 (M3–4)2023: 10 (M4–5)2023: 1 (M5+)2024: 114 (M3–4)2024: 18 (M4–5)2024: 16 (M5+)2025: 103 (M3–4)2025: 10 (M4–5)2025: 1 (M5+)2026: 68 (M<3)2026: 16 (M3–4)2026: 11 (M4–5)2026: 2 (M5+)2026
M<3M3–4M4–5M5+

Read this chart carefully. Rising columns do not mean earthquakes are becoming more frequent. The monitoring network improved over time: the smallest detectable earthquake in Türkiye was about M5.0 in 1966 and is M1.5 today. Earlier years look quiet because small events were not heard, not because they did not happen.

Largest earthquakes

Inclusion rule: the radius widens with magnitude (15 km up to M4, 150 km at M7 and above). This is not a measure of felt shaking or intensity.

MagnitudeDateDepthDistance
7.022.02.2006 22:1912.4 km1583 km
6.831.12.1932 06:3015 km797 km
6.726.05.1984 03:589.2 km1460 km
6.503.04.2017 17:4020.5 km1335 km
6.531.10.1919 15:3635 km1095 km
6.421.08.1978 22:0510.3 km1521 km
6.427.01.2003 17:5611.8 km1480 km
6.305.10.1941 07:0415 km1476 km
6.329.09.1969 20:0316.7 km737 km
6.322.07.2013 07:013.2 km1465 km
6.331.10.1919 15:3615 km858 km
6.325.08.1924 02:2110 km1376 km
6.204.12.1920 05:5135 km751 km
6.229.01.1927 18:3735 km1385 km
6.219.05.1940 18:1635 km1402 km

Latest earthquakes

MagnitudeDateDepthDistance
2.303.08.2026 11:5210 km1011 km
2.303.08.2026 07:2410 km907 km
2.102.08.2026 14:0710 km930 km
2.002.08.2026 12:0610 km1013 km
2.202.08.2026 11:4710 km953 km
2.901.08.2026 12:0710 km958 km
2.131.07.2026 14:5810 km992 km
2.030.07.2026 14:5010 km969 km
2.330.07.2026 10:3510 km1059 km
2.429.07.2026 20:2410 km905 km
2.629.07.2026 17:3710 km904 km
2.629.07.2026 15:0510 km882 km
2.729.07.2026 07:4010 km852 km
2.227.07.2026 07:1510 km1215 km
3.026.07.2026 14:5510 km943 km
2.726.07.2026 14:4710 km876 km
2.726.07.2026 11:2510 km876 km
2.525.07.2026 11:5410 km818 km
2.224.07.2026 18:0010 km928 km
2.124.07.2026 14:4910 km957 km
2.524.07.2026 07:1410 km808 km
2.423.07.2026 16:1210 km883 km
2.223.07.2026 13:3910 km992 km
2.323.07.2026 10:2110 km984 km
2.322.07.2026 12:5510 km897 km
2.021.07.2026 14:3410 km981 km
2.021.07.2026 13:4510 km948 km
2.220.07.2026 17:1810 km967 km
2.220.07.2026 11:5010 km884 km
2.019.07.2026 15:3610 km847 km
2.419.07.2026 11:3610 km905 km
2.119.07.2026 07:1110 km875 km
2.818.07.2026 13:5510 km976 km
3.508.06.2026 23:090 km815 km
2.231.05.2026 18:4210 km845 km
2.431.05.2026 00:4810 km909 km
2.729.05.2026 12:4510 km846 km
2.029.05.2026 11:5310 km952 km
2.028.05.2026 09:5410 km831 km
2.027.05.2026 14:2010 km959 km
2.526.05.2026 15:2010 km894 km
3.224.05.2026 14:5110 km944 km
2.423.05.2026 14:5210 km941 km
2.423.05.2026 11:0010 km952 km
3.023.05.2026 07:0710 km906 km
2.722.05.2026 23:4810 km897 km
2.322.05.2026 13:0310 km987 km
2.122.05.2026 11:5810 km1010 km
2.021.05.2026 16:0310 km983 km
2.421.05.2026 11:4810 km880 km
2.920.05.2026 10:4910 km1092 km
2.220.05.2026 02:3410 km1215 km
2.819.05.2026 07:0210 km899 km
2.118.05.2026 14:5310 km985 km
2.418.05.2026 14:2010 km876 km
2.518.05.2026 12:5610 km908 km
2.218.05.2026 11:5310 km758 km
2.415.05.2026 04:4010 km1116 km
2.415.05.2026 02:0710 km1113 km
2.315.05.2026 02:0310 km906 km

Regions

North West2,066Gauteng1,204Free State1,131Western Cape409Mpumalanga302Northern Cape221

Method and sources

What this page counts
An earthquake appears here when its epicentre is within a magnitude-dependent distance of this place's border: 15 km up to M4, 30 km to M5, 60 km to M6, 100 km to M7, and 150 km at M7 and above. The rule exists because a large earthquake concerns neighbouring provinces too — the 17 August 1999 epicentre was in the Gulf of İzmit, on no province's land at all.
Location precision
Epicentre uncertainty is typically 1–10 km, and larger for older records. That is why this site breaks data down to districts but not to neighbourhoods or villages — the data does not support that distinction.
Magnitude scales
The catalogues use more than twelve magnitude scales (Mw, ML, mb, Md…) and they are not equivalent. Values are shown on the scale the source reported; they are not converted.
Deduplication
The same earthquake is published by several catalogues. Records within 20 seconds and 100 km whose magnitudes differ by no more than 1.2 are treated as one event; the primary record is chosen by catalogue priority.
Updates
Recent earthquakes are fetched from four sources every five minutes. The historical archive is rebuilt infrequently.
Sources
USGS ComCat · ISC Bulletin · AFAD · Kandilli / KOERI · EMSC/CSEM
Reporting an error
If you spot a wrong record, write to us; we verify against the source and correct it.