SC earthquake strikes a mile from nuclear plant outside Columbia
An earthquake took place Friday about a mile from the V.C. Summer Nuclear Plant in Fairfield County, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The agency’s maps showed the epicenter of the quake was in Lake Monticello, also known as the Monticello Reservoir, near Jenkinsville, which is about 30 miles north of Columbia. The V.C. Summer Nuclear Plant is located on the southern edge of Lake Monticello, which supplies the plant with water. The epicenter of the quake was approximately 5000 feet from the nuclear plant, according to maps.
The quake reached 2.0 magnitude, which is considered a minor earthquake; at that magnitude, a slight shaking of the earth or a tremor inside a house might have been felt by people near the center of the quake.
But it’s unlikely that many people felt the earthquake — for the most part quakes that register 2.5 magnitude or less go unnoticed and are only recorded by a seismograph, according to Michigan Technological University. Any quake less than 5.5 magnitude is not likely to cause significant damage, according to the university.
Anyone who did feel the quake can report it to the United States Geological Survey.
The Monticello Reservoir was completed in 1978 by South Carolina Electric & Gas to supply water to cool the reactors in the nuclear energy plant, which began operating in 1984. Construction of two other nuclear reactors at the V.C. Summer site was halted in 2017 after rising costs that eventually led to SCE&G being bought by Dominion Energy, which now owns the nuclear plant.
Lake Monticello Park is located on the southeastern shores of the reservoir.
South Carolina has about 10 to 15 earthquakes a year, according to the state’s Emergency Management Division.
In April a 2.3 magnitude earthquake was reported outside Rock Hill, according to a geological survey. In March a 2.3 magnitude earthquake was recorded near Charleston — and in January two earthquakes hit in Kershaw and Lexington counties.
This story was originally published May 2, 2020 at 1:04 PM.