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The 5.5 magnitude earthquake in North West earlier this month was possibly linked to mining in the area, a University of Pretoria academic said on Monday.
"What might happen, after enough mining, we are creating stresses, more and more stresses and they are propagating deeper and deeper," said Prof Andrezj Kijko, the director of the university's Natural Hazard Centre.
"We are adding stresses to already existing stresses, tectonic components... and then we are triggering [an] earthquake.
"We are talking about accelerating earthquakes, just by mining," Kijko said.
A 31-year-old man was killed in a mining village near Orkney when the 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck the region.
At least 34 miners were injured and more than 600 houses damaged.