Unlikely relation between Taiwan quake and #DurbanTremor: Expert

The seismic event lasted about 5 seconds and was felt in many parts of Durban as well as Pietermaritzburg, Howick and the south coast. 

There has been speculation the Taiwan quake may have triggered the tremor here. 

But Project Manager at the Council for Geoscience, Michelle Grobbelaar, does not think so.

"These plates are huge, so if one moves it does take a long time for the other one to respond. Secondly, we are quite far away from the African Plate Boundary so we have not seen enough evidence to support these theories. With the distance between South Africa and Taiwan it is very unlikely that the two are related," she said.

Grobbelaar says because KZN has had quakes in the past more tremors can be expected in the future.

"The first one I can remember in our catalogue was in 1932. There was an event off the coast of St Lucia that derailed an entire train. So it is not an uncommon thing."

"What we have noticed in the past, especially on the Durban beachfront is that people there feel the events from quite far away and the theory is it is probably because of the sand that is amplifying the ground motion. I think even in 2006 the big event in Mozambique was felt quite strongly by people in Durban's beachfront," she said.

Meanwhile the Co-operative Governance Department says its Disaster Management teams were dispatched yesterday and remain on standby.

(Photo: AFP)