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Earthquakes in South Africa

3,261 earthquakes catalogued in and around South Africa between 1912 and 2026.

Last updated 14 October 2026 · merged from 5 catalogues
3.3
Latest earthquake · depth 10 km
13.10.2026 16:51 UTC · from centre 1028 km
3,261
recorded earthquakes
M7.0
largest
1912–2026
record span
3.35
mean magnitude
3,161
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: 192 (M<3)2026: 33 (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
6.219.05.1940 18:1635 km1402 km
6.229.01.1927 18:3735 km1385 km

Latest earthquakes

MagnitudeDateDepthDistance
3.313.10.2026 16:5110 km1028 km
2.413.10.2026 11:5210 km1163 km
2.813.10.2026 03:4610 km1127 km
2.312.10.2026 22:3510 km906 km
2.312.10.2026 14:3010 km906 km
2.611.10.2026 18:1610 km469 km
2.011.10.2026 06:2910 km906 km
2.111.10.2026 01:3610 km469 km
2.110.10.2026 18:0710 km473 km
2.209.10.2026 22:3410 km848 km
2.309.10.2026 14:5210 km906 km
2.809.10.2026 12:2810 km931 km
2.309.10.2026 04:3810 km550 km
3.008.10.2026 17:0110 km904 km
2.108.10.2026 08:3010 km993 km
2.207.10.2026 22:2410 km729 km
2.307.10.2026 19:1410 km726 km
2.107.10.2026 12:355 km842 km
3.607.10.2026 12:355 km842 km
2.206.10.2026 23:4210 km918 km
2.206.10.2026 23:0410 km909 km
2.106.10.2026 19:5210 km908 km
2.206.10.2026 16:4310 km929 km
2.906.10.2026 14:3310 km906 km
2.206.10.2026 14:2810 km972 km
2.206.10.2026 13:3810 km960 km
2.106.10.2026 13:3610 km957 km
2.206.10.2026 12:5710 km978 km
2.206.10.2026 12:5010 km951 km
2.205.10.2026 13:3710 km961 km
2.104.10.2026 18:3110 km841 km
2.503.10.2026 10:0210 km930 km
2.202.10.2026 19:0410 km896 km
3.502.10.2026 17:4010 km907 km
2.602.10.2026 13:3710 km978 km
2.202.10.2026 11:5510 km982 km
2.102.10.2026 09:1010 km998 km
2.030.09.2026 16:3910 km998 km
3.528.09.2026 17:0610 km906 km
2.328.09.2026 12:3210 km876 km
2.228.09.2026 06:2110 km906 km
2.426.09.2026 22:0210 km903 km
2.722.09.2026 04:1710 km846 km
2.420.09.2026 16:1610 km903 km
2.919.09.2026 21:4010 km1300 km
2.919.09.2026 16:1610 km898 km
2.418.09.2026 16:4010 km907 km
2.418.09.2026 00:5710 km682 km
2.517.09.2026 22:1510 km900 km
2.817.09.2026 22:1310 km898 km
2.117.09.2026 04:2210 km898 km
2.315.09.2026 21:3410 km983 km
2.615.09.2026 18:2910 km1320 km
3.215.09.2026 10:1310 km908 km
2.114.09.2026 11:4410 km1039 km
3.214.09.2026 08:5010 km900 km
3.614.09.2026 00:3610 km904 km
2.913.09.2026 10:1310 km877 km
2.013.09.2026 03:4810 km927 km
2.912.09.2026 15:0810 km982 km

Regions

North West2,155Gauteng1,290Free State1,159Western Cape413Mpumalanga336Northern Cape226

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.