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Weak Morning Earthquake Rattles South Carolina

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Today's earthquake struck at the orange dot inside the colored concentric circles on this map. Image: USGS
Today’s earthquake struck at the orange dot inside the colored concentric circles on this map. Image: USGS

According to USGS, a weak earthquake rattled northwestern South Carolina near the state lines with Georgia and North Carolina early this morning. At 6:10 am from a depth of 6.1 km, a weak magnitude 1.6 earthquake struck near the town of Salem, South Carolina which is well north and east of Atlanta, Georgia, and west of Greenville, South Carolina. Today’s earthquake was too weak to create any damage or injuries.

Earthquake hazards are possible in broad areas of the United States. Earthquake hazard map showing peak ground accelerations having a 2 percent probability of being exceeded in 50 years, for a firm rock site. The map illustrates such hazards and is based on the most recent USGS models for the conterminous U.S. (2018), Hawaii (1998), and Alaska (2007). Image: USGS
Earthquake hazards are possible in broad areas of the United States. Earthquake hazard map showing peak ground accelerations having a 2 percent probability of being exceeded in 50 years, for a firm rock site. The map illustrates such hazards and is based on the most recent USGS models for the conterminous U.S. (2018), Hawaii (1998), and Alaska (2007). Image: USGS

According to USGS, earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or less are rarely felt or heard by people, but once they exceed 2.0 , more and more people can feel them. While damage is possible with magnitude 3.0 events or greater, significant damage and casualties usually don’t occur until the magnitude of a seismic event rises to a 5.5 or greater rated event.

According to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD), approximately 10 to 15 earthquakes are recorded annually in South Carolina with 3 to 5 of them felt or noticed by people. About 70 percent of South Carolina earthquakes are located in the Middleton Place-Summerville Seismic Zone. The two most significant historical earthquakes to occur in South Carolina were the 1886 Charleston/Summerville earthquake and the 1913 Union County earthquake. The 1886 earthquake in Charleston was the most damaging earthquake to ever occur in the eastern United States. In terms of lives lost, human suffering and devastation, this was the most destructive United States earthquake in the 19th century.

SCEMD says, “Earthquakes in South Carolina have the potential to cause great and sudden loss because devastation can occur in minutes. While there have not been any large-scale earthquakes in South Carolina in recent years, a 2001 study (Comprehensive Seismic Risk and Vulnerability Study for the State of South Carolina) confirmed the state is extremely vulnerable to earthquake activity.” That study probed the potential impacts of earthquakes on the current population and on contemporary structures and systems, including roadways, bridges, homes, commercial and government buildings, schools, hospitals and water and sewer facilities.