South Africa Hosts Multi-Regional Earthquake Drill

South Africa is hosting the Africa–Europe–Middle East Earthquake Response Exercise 2025 in Gqeberha, the first multi-regional earthquake-readiness drill of its kind in Africa. The exercise simulates a large urban earthquake with secondary hazards such as flooding, building collapse, hazardous materials, and service disruptions, involving South African disaster-management teams, emergency services, defence forces, medical units, and international partners including UN rescue teams.

While earthquakes are generally rare in South Africa, over 1,700 have been recorded since the 1950s, mostly small (magnitude 2–4), with notable events like the 1969 Tulbagh quake (M6.3) and 2014 Orkney quake (M5.5), making preparedness exercises like this vital for building coordination and resilience.