Earthquake Information

Overview

The Palmetto state has a seismic past and will, no doubt, tremble again as quakes shake the ground beneath our feet. Earthquakes are not an uncommon occurrence in South Carolina. (See the Report on a 3.6 Magnitude Earthquake in the Lowcountry) The South Carolina Geological Survey (SCGS) is interested in making South Carolinians aware of our seismic past, what causes our earthquakes, what is being done to reduce the losses that will result from future quakes, and what you should do before, during, and after an earthquake.

Latest Earthquakes - Last 24 Hours (USGS)

Report on Elgin-area earthquakes, July 2022

Charleston earthquake of 1886

Most people had gone to bed by 9:51 p.m. on Tuesday, August 31, 1886. They had no way of knowing that shock waves from a massive quake (see Figure 1), estimated magnitude of 7.6, would throw them out of bed. Imagine how bewildered and frightened they must have been as they darted for safety when ceilings gave way and tons of debris rained down about them. Survivors saw that many of Charleston's brick and masonry buildings had crumbled to the ground. Those structures that remained standing bore great cracks and other scars (see Figure 2). Sadly, about 60 people did not survive the quake. It was reported that ground shaking damaged structures as far away as 200 miles from Charleston. This quake was the strongest earthquake known to hit the Eastern Seaboard, and it shook with such force that it was felt over 2 1/2 million square miles (from Cuba to New York, and Bermuda to the Mississippi River).

In South Carolina, geologists have recently discovered evidence of at least five large paleoearthquakes during the past 5,000 years (Amick and Gelinas, 1991). As shown in Figures 3 and 4, paleoliquefaction features, considered earthquake induced, have been found in South Carolina's coastal area. During a strong earthquake, subsurface saturated sand becomes liquefied and this fluid mass can be ejected to the surface. The resulting liquefaction features, sand blows, vents/fissures, landslide, and differential compaction, are preserved in the soil as evidence of the earthquake's occurrence and strength. Given the necessary conditions, a magnitude 5.5 quake can generate liquefaction features that could cause damage to existing facilities and property.

An earthquake is the violent shaking of the Earth caused by a sudden movement of rock beneath its surface. Rocks respond to stress (squeezed or pulled apart) near the Earth's surface by breaking, and when rocks move along either side of a fracture, it is called a fault. The land around a fault may shift horizontally, vertically, or a combination of these motions (see Figure 5). The force that causes the stress within the rock is a result of movement of giant sections of the Earth's crust (see Figures 6 and 7).

Plate tectonics

For hundreds of millions of years, the forces of continental drift have reshaped the Earth. Continental drift is based on the idea that the continents bumped into, and slid over and under each other and at some later time broke apart. Today, most people accept the theory that the Earth's crust is on the move, and we call this theory plate tectonics. The crust (lithosphere) is broken into about 12 enormous plates that float on hotter, softer rocks in the underlying mantle (asthenosphere). The Earth's heat drives convection currents in the asthenosphere, moving the plates past one another very slowly. Plates move mere inches annually, carrying the continents and ocean basins with them as they drift about.

The majority of earthquakes worldwide occur at plate boundaries when plates stick and then jump past each other. These quakes often are the ones that are the most destructive and well understood in terms of plate tectonics. The cause of earthquakes in South Carolina is not so clear. South Carolina's quakes are located within a plate rather than at a plate boundary. Perhaps the intraplate quakes felt in South Carolina are the result of stresses transmitted inward from the boundaries of the North American plate. In our state, quakes may occur along ancient plate boundaries where existing faults are reactivated as the tectonic stress is released.

Fault zones

In response to this threat, SCGS has been mapping faults and related geologic structures throughout the state. SCGS has published a map, similar to the very generalized one shown in Figure 8, showing where faults and other geologic structures in South Carolina are located. These and other maps are being produced to increase the public awareness of quake-prone areas.

In South Carolina, approximately 70 percent of the earthquakes occur in the Coastal Plain and most are clustered around three areas west and north of Charleston: Ravenel-Adams Run-Hollywood, Middleton Place-Summerville, and Bowman. These faults and other geologic structures related to the earthquakes are hidden by the thick sequence of sediments. Therefore, few clues to the causes of earthquakes in the Coastal Plain can be found at the surface. To unmask these hidden geologic structures, geologists are using geophysical techniques, recorded seismic activity (see Figure 9), or both. In the Piedmont, studies of surface geology are beginning to offer important clues to the causes of quakes in South Carolina.