| Though South Africa is considered to lie in a stable continental region, earthquakes are recorded and located daily. Large events have been recorded that resulted in severe damage to infrastructure in nearby towns, farms, underground mines and even death in some circumstances. Therefore, it is necessary that we consider the effects of these events in the design of our infrastructure. This mitigation is done by carrying out reliable seismic hazard and risk studies of our regions using state of the art methodologies. In South Africa, several regional seismic hazard studies have been carried out and published. Continental wide studies that include the South African region were also published by various scientists from the continent (e.g. GSHAP). However, to ensure that we conform to international best practice in such studies, more studies need and are being done to improve data, knowledge and methodologies used in the assessments. We continue to collect and improve collection methods of historical and instrumental seismicity data. Available geological information is being used to identify and characterize active or capable faults. |