Third earthquake reported near Cayce in two months
The U.S. Geological Survey has reported an earthquake occurred Friday morning near Cayce — the third in two months.
The earthquake had a magnitude of 1.8 and a depth 3.3 kilometers.
The quake occurred at 5:03 a.m. and was centered on the Congaree River near Cayce.
The exact center was located at 33.963 degrees north and 81.032 west. That is near where two other minor earthquakes were recorded on Nov. 7 and Dec. 14.
A 2.0 magnitude earthquake was reported in Cayce on Nov. 7 by the USGS. It occurred at 3:45 a.m. and had a depth of 0.8 kilometers.
A 2.5 magnitude earthquake occurred near Cayce on Dec. 14, the agency said.
USGS geophysicist John Bellini told The State that area residents have little to be concerned about. The Cayce area is not on any major fault line.
“South Carolina does have earthquakes from time to time. Although they are not common, it’s not surprising either,” Bellini said from the USGS offices in Golden, Colo.
He added Cayce and Columbia are not located on any major fault line.
“All earthquakes occur on fault lines,” he said. “But most (fault lines) are tiny and not named, if they are known at all.”
Bellini added that the presence of two large quarries in the general vicinity of the quakes was likely not a factor.
“They are not occurring when the quarries would be blasting,” he said.
The Dec. 14 quake happened just after noon on a Saturday about a half mile southeast of Cayce, according to the USGS. It had a depth of 1.72 kilometers, the group reported.
Tremors lower than 2.5 magnitude happen an estimated 900,000 times annually and typically are not felt, according to Michigan Tech, although there were some reports of people feeling the effects of the December quake.
Any quake less than 5.5 magnitude is not likely to cause significant damage, the school said.
Also last year:
▪ A 2.2 magnitude earthquake was reported in Irmo on July 17.
▪ A 1.4 magnitude quake was reported in Winnsboro Mills on July 10
▪ A 2.5 magnitude tremor was reported Jan. 24 in Chapin.
Between 2017 and 2018, Pageland, a South Carolina town near the North Carolina border, was rattled by three quakes in six months. From September to November 2018, South Carolina was hit by string of minor quakes, including two in one day.
This story was originally published January 3, 2020 at 10:54 AM.