Midlands residents wake to shaking from earthquake reported in North Carolina
Many people in the Midlands reported feeling an earthquake Sunday morning.
According to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, there was no earthquake in the Columbia area — or even in the Palmetto State.
But there was a significant earthquake recorded in North Carolina which could be the cause of the tremors felt across the Midlands.
The latest in a cluster of earthquakes in the area of Sparta, North Carolina happened just after 8 a.m. and registered at 5.1 on the Richter scale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was fairly far underground, occurring at a depth of 9.2 kilometers (about 6 miles). The closer to the surface an earthquake is, means the greater likelihood of damage.
It followed three previous quakes over the past day in that same area near the state line between North Carolina and Virginia — about 200 miles from Columbia. The big earthquake was preceded by smaller ones that were 2.6, 2.3 and 2.1 magnitude respectively, the USGS reported.
“Getting multiple calls about a possible earthquake in South Carolina. No earthquake has been confirmed in our state; however, USGS just reported a 5.1 magnitude quake near the North Carolina & Virginia border. It’s possible we felt it here too,” the Emergency Management Division said on Twitter.
The National Weather Service office in Columbia said it received several calls reporting the quake. Both the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office and Cayce Department of Public Safety posted about the earthquake.
Multiple people in the Midlands posted on social media about waking to the shaking. Several people in the Columbia areas of Rosewood and Shandon reported feeling the quake, while similar posts were made in Irmo, and further out in Lexington by the Dreher Shoals Dam on Lake Murray Sunday morning.
Columbia Mayor Steven Benjamin tweeted about the earthquake, and asked for everyone to “Please be safe!”
As of 9:45 a.m., the USGS said there have been almost 45,000 “Did You Feel It?” reports.
Clattering windows and doors were commonly mentioned in the posts, while several more people asked if others felt the effects of the quake.
There were no reports of injuries or damage caused by the quake, the Associated Press reported. Any quake less than 5.5 magnitude is not likely to cause significant damage, according to Michigan Technological University.
Anyone who experienced the earthquake is asked to report it to the USGS, so the agency can determine a precise magnitude.
A similar situation happened nine years ago, when a powerful earthquake happened hundreds of miles away but its rumblings were clearly felt in the Columbia area, according to the Emergency Management Division.
In August 2011, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake occurred was centered in Virginia, but was felt it in South Carolina, too, the Emergency Management Division tweeted.
Sunday’s earthquake was the largest to hit North Carolina since 1916, when a magnitude 5.5 quake was recorded, according to the National Weather Service office in Greenville.
The earthquake was called an “oblique reverse” slip, and was caused by one block slipping below another, according to Washington Post meteorologist Matthew Cappucci. He said it was felt in Charlotte and Raleigh, and as far away as Atlanta, Tennessee, and Ohio.
“There is a good chance there will be aftershocks,” which could continue for a week or two, Randy Baldwin, a geophysicist with the National Earthquake Information Center in Colorado, told The News & Observer.
Although this quake did not originate in South Carolina, six earthquakes have been reported in the state in 2020. Most of them were reported in the Columbia area.
Most recently, a 2.2 magnitude earthquake was reported near Bethune on July 25, and had a depth of 2.9 kilometers, according to DNR.
It is typical for South Carolina to have between six and 10 earthquakes a year, the S.C. Geological Survey reported.
One of the most powerful earthquakes recorded in South Carolina happened in Charleston on Aug. 31, 1886. The estimated 7.3 magnitude quake killed 60 people and was felt over 2.5 million square miles, from Cuba to New York, and Bermuda to the Mississippi River, according to the Emergency Management Division.
“The Palmetto State has a seismic past and will, no doubt, tremble again as quakes shake the ground beneath our feet,” the S.C. Department of Natural Resources said.
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This story was originally published August 9, 2020 at 8:55 AM.
