October 5, 1986 Earthquake: Mount Frere, Durban, South Africa
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck Mount Frere, Durban, South Africa on October 5, 1986 at 18:53:20 UTC, 5 km below the surface.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- October 5, 1986
- Time
- 18:53:20 UTC
- Place
- Mount Frere, Durban, South Africa
- Magnitude
- 4.8 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 5 km (3 mi)
- Intensity
- 4 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 30.546° S, 28.737° E
- Country
- South Africa
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1986The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1986Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 5110.