According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake struck at 12:37 on Wednesday in an area that has seen more than a dozen quakes in the last 20 years, including two very large ones in 2006 that were felt as far as Harare.
The earthquake was severe in Chipinge where panic-stricken residents scurried for cover.
No deaths or injuries were recorded.
Zimbabwe’s Goetz Observatory in Bulawayo said it was still busy putting together all readings.
“It [earthquake] measured 4.5 on the Richter scale, but we are still gathering all the information from other regional stations in Mozambique and Madagascar,” senior seismologist at Goetz Observatory Brassnavy Manzunzu said.
The quake originated some 25km underground in the same section of the southern end of the East African Rift Valley that saw the two largest earthquakes in decades in Southern Africa just five years ago.