There was palpable tension as a 5.0 magnitude earthquake hit South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the tremor struck at 2:38 am (0038 GMT) around 10 kilometres (six miles) below the surface.
Buildings shook across the province of Gauteng, where Johannesburg, the country’s largest city and commercial hub, is located.
Residents across the province felt the tremor and some posted pictures on social media showing minor structural damage to walls.
One of the residents wrote on Twitter, “Earth tremor in Johannesburg. Longest and strongest I have felt! Went on for about 30 seconds, it felt like.”
However, security risk and crisis management consultancy Crisis24 said there were no records of damage or casualties as a result of the earthquake.
In August 2014, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit a gold mining town near Johannesburg.
The last major quake to hit South Africa was a 6.3-magnitude tremor that struck the Western Cape province in 1969.