Late night tremors hit part of SC that hasn’t had an earthquake in years

A warm Friday night in South Carolina was the setting for the most recent earthquake to hit the Palmetto State. And it wasn’t a usual location for seismic activity.

A 2.1 magnitude earthquake was recorded near the Calhoun Falls area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The seismic activity hit at 9:47 p.m. in Abbeville County, the South Carolina Emergency Management Division said.

The tremors were recorded about a mile beneath the surface of the ground in the western part of the Palmetto State, USGS data shows.

The last time an earthquake was recorded within 30 miles of Calhoun Falls was in 2013, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Geological Survey data shows.

Recent earthquakes

The recent seismic activity means that 20 earthquakes have been confirmed in South Carolina this year, according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources Geological Survey. Prior to Friday night’s earthquake, nine of the past 10 all were closer to Columbia.

On March 13, a 2.0 magnitude earthquake hit off the South Carolina coast, but that was in the Atlantic Ocean, not the Palmetto State.

The last two earthquakes recorded in South Carolina were 2.3 and 2.4 magnitude quakes on May 8 and 9 in Winnsboro, according to the USGS.

There were 35 confirmed earthquakes in South Carolina in 2025.

In 2024, there were 30 earthquakes in the Palmetto State, after 28 quakes were recorded in 2023, South Carolina DNR records show.

History of earthquakes in SC

It had been uncommon for earthquakes to hit outside the Midlands area of the Palmetto State, specifically beyond Kershaw County, where 75 earthquakes have been confirmed since the end of June 2022, according to the South Carolina DNR.

That’s also where South Carolina’s most powerful recent earthquakes were recorded on June 29, 2022.

On that day, two earthquakes — one a 3.5 magnitude and the other 3.6 — were included in a flurry of tremors and aftershocks. Those were the two largest quakes to hit South Carolina in nearly a decade. A 4.1-magnitude quake struck McCormick County in 2014.

Anyone who felt tremors and shaking or heard rumbling from Friday’s earthquake can report it to the USGS.

The most recent earthquake means at least 187 have been detected in the Palmetto State since the start of 2022, according to South Carolina DNR. All but 61 of the quakes have been in the Midlands.

In all, 131 earthquakes have hit the Columbia area since a 3.3-magnitude quake was recorded Dec. 27, 2021, according to the DNR.

The S.C. Emergency Management Division said the majority of the recent earthquakes were classified as a micro quakes, according to the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale.

No major damage or injuries have been reported from the recent seismic activity or any of the other recent quakes.

Earthquakes that register 2.5 magnitude or less often go unnoticed and are usually recorded only by a seismograph, according to Michigan Technological University. Any quake less than 5.5 magnitude is not likely to cause significant damage, the school said.

It had been typical for South Carolina to have between six and 10 earthquakes a year, the S.C. Geological Survey previously reported. There have been 197 earthquakes in South Carolina since Jan. 18, 2021, according to DNR. During a 2022 town hall to address the earthquakes, state geologist Scott Howard said as many as 200 smaller tremors might have gone unnoticed and unrecorded.

The strongest earthquake ever recorded in South Carolina — and on the East Coast of the United States — was a devastating 7.3 in Charleston in 1886.

That 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 state EMD.

Reported earthquakes in SC 2025-26

This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 9:17 AM.

Noah Feit

The State

803-771-8435

Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription