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The 2017 Botswana earthquake was a magnitude 6.5 earthquake which occurred in the Central District of
Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kal ...
. It is the second largest earthquake recorded in Botswana next to the 6.7 magnitude earthquake in
Maun Maun may refer to: Places * Maun, Botswana, a town * River Maun, a river in England * Maun (island), an island in the Adriatic Sea People * Caroline Maun (born 1968), American professor, author, poet, lyricist and musician * Danny Maun (born 1981) ...
which occurred in 1952.


Earthquake

The earthquake which happened at 19:40, local time according to the US Geological Survey. It was felt for 30 seconds in the country's capital of
Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 cen ...
and was reportedly felt in neighboring South Africa, Zimbabwe, and
Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...
. At least 36 students were injured in a stampede sparked by the earthquake.


Geology

The epicenter area of the earthquake is covered by wind-blown sediments and there is no trace of a fault at the surface prior to the earthquake. The phenomenon was suspected to be an
artificial earthquake Induced seismicity is typically minor earthquakes and tremors that are caused by human activity that alters the stresses and strains on Earth's crust. Most induced seismicity is of a low magnitude. A few sites regularly have larger quakes, suc ...
allegedly caused by
hydraulic fracking Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frac ...
activity in the
Central Kalahari Game Reserve Central Kalahari Game Reserve is an extensive national park in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. Established in 1961 it covers an area of (larger than the Netherlands, and almost 10% of Botswana's total land area), making it the second largest game ...
. This speculation has been dismissed by the Botswana Geoscience Institute saying that the earthquake was natural, taking note that the earthquake was recorded at a depth of . Geophysical investigation of the epicenter region show that the earthquake is natural, related to deep mantle fluids moving up the crust and causing the extensional reactivation of an ancient thrust fault. Slip along a low-angle segment of the fault caused a slight ground deformation at the surface detectable only by satellite radar technology.


See also

* List of earthquakes in 2017 * Geology of Botswana


References


External links


2017 Botswana earthquake
by the United States Geological Survey * {{Earthquakes in Africa Botswana earthquake Earthquakes in Africa Natural disasters in Botswana 2017 in Botswana April 2017 events in Africa