The Ceres, South Africa, earthquake of September 29, 1969: I. Report on some aftershocks

abstract Aftershocks following the Ceres earthquake of September 29, 1969, (Magnitude 6.3) were monitored using a number of portable seismic recording stations. Earthquakes of this magnitude are rare in South Africa. The event occurred in a relatively densely-populated part of the Republic, and resulted in nine deaths and considerable damage. Accurate locations of some 125 aftershocks delineate a linear, almost vertical fault plane. The volume of the aftershock region is 3 × 9 × 20 km 3 with the depth of the aftershocks varying from surface to 9 km. Aftershocks following the September event had almost ceased when another large earthquake (Magnitude 5.7) occurred on April 14, 1970. Following this event, the frequency and magnitude of aftershocks increased, and they were located on a limited portion of the same fault system delineated by the September 29th aftershocks. Previously-mapped faults do not correlate simply with the fault zone indicated by the aftershock sequence.