Earthquakes in South Africa through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 15 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off South Africa. None reached magnitude 7: the strongest was a magnitude 6.8 on December 31, 1932 (120 km ESE of Richards Bay, South Africa).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 5 on July 21, 1997 (Avgold's Hartebeestfontein Mine), for which NOAA records 15 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 13 here, back to 1809. NOAA records deaths in 10 of the events here, 57 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 2.1 on May 3, 2018 (West Rand). NOAA’s record here begins on December 4, 1809 with an earthquake (Cape Of Good Hope). It grows thinner going back: 12 of the 13 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 2 tsunamis that began in or off South Africa, and 2 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 2.9 m, on August 27, 1969. The deadliest here came on December 26, 2004 from a magnitude 9.1 earthquake (Off W. Coast Of Sumatra): NOAA’s runup records count 2 deaths in South Africa.
The events
- May 3, 2018Earthquake · M 2.1West Rand · 7 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- December 26, 2004Tsunami · 1.5 m hereOff W. Coast Of Sumatra · 2 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 27, 2003Earthquake · M 6.4Prince Edward Islands regionUSGS
- July 21, 1997Earthquake · M 5.0Avgold's Hartebeestfontein Mine · 15 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- October 18, 1990Earthquake · M 4.0Charletonville · 10 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- September 29, 1969Earthquake · M 6.315 km NNE of Ceres, South Africa · 12 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- August 27, 1969Tsunami · 2.9 m hereSouth AfricaNOAA NCEI
- October 5, 1941Earthquake · M 6.3Prince Edward Islands regionUSGS
- December 31, 1932Earthquake · M 6.8120 km ESE of Richards Bay, South AfricaUSGS
- August 25, 1924Earthquake · M 6.7Prince Edward Islands regionUSGS
- October 31, 1919Earthquake · M 6.338 km S of Driefontein, South AfricaUSGS
- December 4, 1809EarthquakeCape Of Good HopeNOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for South Africa when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where South Africa is the nearest country.
- USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
- NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
- Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
- A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
- The map frames the box around South Africa, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history