NATIONAL NEWS & VIDEO - Preliminary indications are that yesterday morning’s earthquake that sent tremors through the Little Karoo and George area could be as a result of movement of tectonic rock masses.

This is according to Eldridge Kgaswane, a senior scientist from the Council for Geoscience (CGS).

Kgaswane said the epicentre of the quake was roughly 60 km north of Oudtshoorn (33.355° South, 22.386° East).

Asked about the effect the seismic activity could have had on the Cango caves, he said, “In principle, it is possible for cracks or instability to occur in the caves, since they are in proximity to the epicentre. But this depends on other factors, such as soil conditions in the cave area and whether they could have possibly amplified the seismic waves from the epicentre or not.

“However, at this stage we haven’t received detailed reports from the Cango caves and nearby towns. Probably, we will have a team dispatched in the very near future to do a forensic seismic survey in the caves and the nearby towns and farms.”

He said the CGS has no record of any significant seismic activity in the past at this epicentre. However, along the same faultline to the west, there had been a significant earthquake in the Ceres-Tulbach area. Seismic activity in the Leeu-Gamka area which is just 100 km north of this epicentre has also been recorded in the past.